


Somewhere We Live Inside

by BlackKittens



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tadashi Hamada Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21575509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackKittens/pseuds/BlackKittens
Summary: Life is full of surprises, Hiro has discovered. First it kills his big brother and best friend in the entire world in an accident. Next it reveals that accident had been no accident at all. He learns his brother had died for nothing because the victim had been the culprit all along. Then he and their best friends become San Fransokyo's dedicated heroes in memory of Tadashi, who had only wanted to help people.Now he's found that Tadashi has been alive this whole time, and not only is he finally, thankfully home, he's at the worst point he's ever been. Hiro's never seen his big brother brought so low. Unfortunately, all their family and friends can do is be there for him as he struggles to adapt back to normal life.But Tadashi hides twice as much as he says, and Hiro doesn't know what to do as he watches one of the people he loves most in the world wrestle with his inner demons.
Comments: 30
Kudos: 56





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how when you love a character so much, you just want them to be happy, and okay, and nice and safe, and loved by their loved ones? That's how I feel about Tadashi. But you know how those are the characters you often love to torture the most? Also how I feel about Tadashi. :P Haha, but I promise this has a happy ending and lots of fluff and comfort on the way.
> 
> The warning for graphic violence is there for safety purposes. We're not going to see too much, if any, violence directly in the story itself. Honestly, the superheroics are going to be more of a background thing than something on the forefront, so I'll be surprised there's if any fight scenes. The warning actually refers to descriptions of violence the characters will be talking about. I'm not *positive* those descriptions will be descriptive enough to warrant the warning, but I'd rather play it safe. Nice things have not happened to Tadashi while he's been gone, that's all I'll say.
> 
> The title is taken from Switchfoot's song "Meant to Live," which fits loosely well with the themes I have in mind for this fic. This first chapter deals with Cass' point of view, but after this we'll almost be strictly following Hiro. Hope you enjoy!

It was a beautiful March day outside The Lucky Cat Café, so beautiful Cass almost ached to go outside and spend the rest of the day in the sun herself. The sky was a cloudless bright blue, the wind was light and cool, and the sun shone gleefully. Southern California might not get winter, really, but it was no doubt spring, and Cass was enjoying every bit of it.

But while she couldn’t go out in the beautiful weather, as much of a shame as that was because business called, she _was_ reaping the wonderful profits this weather brought. No one wanted to be cooped up on a day like this, and a good number of folks had decided this was the perfect afternoon to go out and get some coffee, grab a bite to eat, and sit and relax. Her register was certainly happy, practically bursting with bills and change.

 _‘Hiro and I will be able to go on vacation to Hawaii soon at this rate,’_ she thought mirthfully. _‘I’ll be able to buy three first class ticket- ’_

Cass stopped herself short, pausing in the middle of the café mid-grab for a left behind mug. The tray in her other hand, carrying the rest of the dirty dishes she had been collecting, wobbled slightly.

Oh. That was right. Two tickets, not three.

With a small sigh and sad shake of her head, Cass picked up the mug, still an eighth of the way full and sloshing brown coffee up the walls. She put it on the tray and headed for the counter, slipping behind it for the back.

Sometimes she caught herself like that. She’d only been thinking of Hiro and herself, but her subconscious mind still thought of their family as a family of three. Tadashi was never far from her mind.

Not that he should be, she thought as she loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. He was her baby boy, her oldest nephew, and she missed him every day. Her heart stung with his loss; she’d raised that sweet boy for over a decade, and the universe had thought to rip him away from her. His picture sat on the family shrine upstairs, right next to the ones of his mom and dad. Cass had never forgotten her sister and brother-in-law, and it’d be a cold day in Hell before she forgot Tadashi. They were in her heart forever.

It had been months since he passed. That dreadful fire had been in August and it was March now. Nearly seven months, her baby had been gone.

It wasn’t fair, of course. Nothing about it was fair. Tadashi had had such a bright future ahead of him. He was going to graduate from SFIT, put Baymax out in the healthcare field, make a ton of other world-changing inventions, get married, make more inventions, give her a few grand-nieces and nephews, and watch her grow old with Hiro while they snickered about what a real cat lady she had become. Only a rogue professor with vengeance on the brain had cut Tadashi’s life short for the sake of stealing _Hiro’s_ microbots. Her baby was dead at twenty-one for the sake of revenge, revenge that was almost carried out with her other baby’s stolen hard work.

Cass tried not to be bitter. Callaghan was in federal prison now, and would rot there until the day he died. She’d crack open a bottle of celebratory wine that day and no one could stop her, but she _tried_ not to be bitter.

Bitterness got her nowhere. Her business needed her and more importantly she had to be here for Hiro. Life had to go on. No matter how much her soul had felt split in two, Tadashi wasn’t coming back.

She’d never been one to just sit with her feet up, never one to let herself go too long without a smile. Besides, Tadashi would have wanted it that way - for them to be happy. Callaghan wasn’t even part of the equation. He wouldn’t take that away, too.

She loved Tadashi. She’d never stop loving Tadashi, or missing him, or wishing he was here. That night would haunt her for the rest of her life, more so than the crash that took the boys’ parents, because her baby had been killed, and god, if she’d _insisted_ they both follow her to the truck and have their private talk later at home -

Cass blinked back tears before they could fully begin to form in her eyes. She had to stop.

She loved him. She missed him. She wished he were here. She had so many regrets.

But life had to go on and he’d _never_ leave her heart. Cass would keep him in there until she drew her last breath, remembering every cheerful smile and kind word. She remembered him. That was all she could do. Otherwise, she had to keep going.

Closing up the dishwasher, Cass beat her hands clean on a washcloth and ventured back into the café. She stood behind the counter at the register, resting her hands on the warm top, watching over the floor. There were no more dirty dishes lying around on empty tables, everyone was chatting and eating, no one impatiently waiting for their orders, and the sun was shining eagerly through the windows.

A satisfied smile played on her lips. Yes, today was a beautiful day.

She picked up her hands off the counter. Crumbs came up with her fingers, she saw, twisting her hands back and forth.

Cass crouched down to grab a fresh rag and cleaner from one of the shelves below. Might as well wipe them up.

Before she could grab them, though, her phone vibrated in her apron pocket.

She always kept her phone on her person while in the café. One never knew when the boys might need to get in contact with her for an emergency, or warn her ahead of time that if they didn’t get home on time tonight there actually _wasn’t_ an emergency afoot. In non-emergencies, Cass preferred that they texted over called in the likely case that she was busy, but she couldn’t begrudge them for it when they called. Usually, they were too overwhelmed themselves when they did and simply forgot.

Cass pulled out her phone and stood up, stepping into the doorway of the back as she answered, angling herself away from the café. “Hello?”

“Hi, Aunt Cass!” Hiro hurried out.

Like this. He was probably up to his neck in work at school and having another freak out over it. SFIT’s robotics program was rigorous, far more than any program Hiro had been part of in public school, and he had to work extra hard to meet his goals. And he did! He had, after all, recently been awarded a grant for his excellence in class and innovative ideas. They’d even put him on the news and in the newspaper! Cass was so proud of him. But with that kind of achievement came pressure, and Hiro had never had something as delightfully challenging as SFIT on his shoulders, let alone this. She hoped he’d be okay. Though she was positive the rest of the gang would help.

“Hey, Hiro,” she greeted back quietly so no eavesdroppers could hear. “What’s up?”

“Um, I wanted to let you know I’m gonna be late coming home tonight. Like, super late. I’ll - I’ll be with the gang at the university library. One of my professors just pushed the deadline for a project up, which means I don’t have as much time to work on it, and the new deadline is _really_ close, and I need to work on it!”

Cass nodded along as he babbled. She could imagine him pacing around Tadashi’s lab, now his inherited lab, pushing his hair up with his hand over his forehead in worry. “That’s fine, sweetie! Thanks for letting me know! God, that sucks, you should tell that professor off,” she joked.

“I should!” he agreed, giving a breathy laugh. “Uh, sorry, I don’t know what time I’ll be home. I’ll try not to be out too late but - yeah, I’ll be late. You...probably shouldn’t wait up for me for dinner. The others and I will grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria.”

Cass pursed her lips. There used to be times where Tadashi got so caught up in his work, he wouldn’t come home at all; she’d see him the next day, or the next, or have to go to SFIT to personally drag him out of his lab before he forgot he had a proper bed at home. Tadashi had been an adult, however, and honestly could have moved out if he’d wanted to, into a dorm on campus or his own apartment. Hiro, meanwhile, was fourteen. He was still growing, still developing, and still _way_ too young to be out on his own late at night.

“Home by midnight,” she asserted.

That time was more than fair; hell, it was still passed her comfort zone. But the last time she’d told Hiro to be home by eleven, he’d gotten back at fifteen to midnight and simply took her scolding with a bowed head, the lie that he’d keep better track of time in the future an obvious lie on his lips. Honestly, if Cass didn’t know he’d truly given up bot-fighting and genuinely _was_ at school, she’d be far less lenient with the times and guilty scolding him.

“Not a minute passed,” she warned, though, because for all her leniency and guilt, she would never allow him to stay out as late as, say, two in the morning. “Keep an eye on the clock. You have a class at nine tomorrow. Go to bed at twelve thirty and get up at eight thirty, and that’ll give you eight hours of sleep, young man.”

“Yes, Baymax,” Hiro teased, “I mean, Aunt Cass!”

Cass laughed under her breath - fair enough, she’d even sounded a little like Baymax to her - but when she spoke next, she forced her voice to be even and firm. “If you’re not home by twelve o’clock on the dot, I’m driving up to campus. Don’t make me drag you out of the library, Hiro. You need your sleep and in a real bed.”

The threat worked. Hiro undoubtedly remembered all the times she dragged Tadashi home. “Okay, okay! Not a minute passed, got it! I haveta go, Aunt Cass, love you!”

“I love you, too, baby,” she told him sweetly. “Good luck with your class! Tell the professor they’re a jerk! Bye!”

“I will! Bye!”

The line went dead.

Cass rolled her eyes to the ceiling with a small smile. They both knew he wasn’t going to do that.

Tucking her phone away, she spun on her heel and returned to her previous task, grabbing the rag and cleaner. She sprayed the countertop in three spurts and started wiping it down in hard circles.

As she got to the end of the counter, the sound of nails clicking caught her attention and she looked up. Mochi sat on the countertop, sniffing the wet cleaner and reeling his head back in distaste.

“Mochi, no, you can’t sit up here while it’s wet,” she frowned. Abandoning the rag, Cass moved to pick him up. “You’ll get cat hair all over it and I’ll have to wipe it down again. Vamoose!”

She set Mochi on the floor by her feet and watched him skulk away with a pout.

Silly cat, she thought. He knew he wasn’t supposed to touch whatever she just cleaned.

“Um, excuse me? Ma’am?”

And there was her next cue. Time to take a new order, or clean up a spill (or, unfortunately, listen to some complaint - hopefully not that).

She turned her head.

A young woman who couldn’t be much older than the gang stood behind the counter, rubbing her arms awkwardly. Cass was immediately alert as she took in the unsure yet frightened expression on her face.

“What is it?” Cass jumped straight to the point. “Are you okay?”

The woman pointed to one of the front windows. “I’ve been sitting at that table over there for a half hour. I don’t think he was there when I got here, but twenty minutes ago I noticed a man across the street, staring at this place. I couldn’t - couldn’t read his face, but he’s just been staring at it for - for _at least_ twenty minutes, not moving. That’s not normal. It’s freaking me out.”

Cass’ stomach dropped. That was disturbing.

Her first reaction was that the man must have been some kind of creep plotting something against the café - goodness knew she had an emergency button to call the police, as well as cameras installed outside the front doors, but no inside protection - but that wasn’t the only possibility. Maybe he was only waiting for some friends and they’d come in to eat, she told herself. Or maybe he was ill and needed help. Nothing explicitly said he was a danger.

But Cass was also a grown woman, she knew how terrifying it could be when it seemed like a strange man was watching you. And it didn’t sit right with her that it was a young woman, who seemed so frightened, that had approached her.

“You don’t know him, do you?” she had to ask.

“No!” she shook her head. “I don’t. I - I don’t think he was looking at me either. I think he was st-staring at the doors. But it’s creeping me out and I’m kinda scared to be in here.”

Cass nodded. Whether this guy was ultimately harmless, or a creep targeting her café or one of her customers, this had to be dealt with.

She took a step to the side, about to move around the counter. “Show me where he is - ”

One of the front doors opened and the young woman flinched. “That’s him!” she whispered.

Cass’ eyes slid to the entrance.

A cold shudder suddenly ran down her spine and her blood froze. Her heart leapt to her throat, strangling any attempt at making a sound. She felt as though someone had shoved her out of her body.

Tadashi.

 _Tadashi_ pushed his way inside. His shoulders were hunched forward, downwards, as he marched briskly around the tables and chairs. His hair was just a little bit longer, a little more unkempt, shaggier at the edges. His skin was terribly pale, as if he were about to be sick. The clothes he wore seemed just a bit too big for him, for _him,_ her six foot tall, broad shouldered young man. But it was his eyes that caught her the most. His eyes, always warm no matter what he was doing or feeling, were wide, haunted, and dead set on her.

“Aunt Cass,” he choked out as he reached the counter, and the young woman scrambled away in fear. He clutched the countertop as if his life depended on it, leaning towards her. A new emotion entered his eyes alongside the others, this one anxious fear. “Aunt Cass, it’s me! Ta-Tadashi.”

Cass had no words. She must have looked aghast to him, for that terrible fear in his eyes. Fear of _her._ The woman who had raised him since he was a little boy of ten, had hugged and wiped the tears off his face every time he needed her. But she couldn’t help it; it was like seeing a ghost before her.

It couldn’t be a ghost, though. The young woman saw him, still saw him. The other patrons were staring now as well, confused as to what was going on. And his clothes - those hadn’t been the clothes he died in. She hadn’t seen him in a green flannel shirt since he was maybe eleven, as odd as it struck her to remember such a trivial thing. It lay open at his sides, falling across the counter, billowed over the plain white shirt he had underneath that showed off his collarbones. His jeans were baggy on him. Tadashi had always liked fitting clothes, not baggy ones.

This wasn’t right, however; Tadashi was dead. There was a body. She’d had to identify him when they pulled him out, finally. She’d had nightmares of his charred black, hardly recognizable skin. That body lay next to his parents in the cemetery.

“We buried you,” Cass eventually heard herself saying, her tone low and horrified. She wasn’t making it to do that. “We buried you. We buried you!”

Tadashi’s - whoever’s it was - eyes bulged. He slammed his hands down. “Aunt Cass, please! It’s me! I’m alive, and I’m here now! Please, Aunt Cass, you have to believe me!”

A sob hitched in his throat as he begged her. Cass’ heart broke. He even sounded like Tadashi.

But it couldn’t be true. Her nephew was dead. Her precious baby, no matter how much she wanted to believe -

“Who are you?” she asked, then screeched, “Who are you!? This isn’t funny! I _will_ call the police for such a cruel prank! _Do you have any idea what my family’s been through!?”_

His eyes welled to their brims, but his face twisted in pain - no, panic, she realized. Or panic and pain. Both.

“When I seven,” he rushed out, “you watched me while Hiro was being born. You took me to the - the hospital around five o’clock. Mom had been in labor since six. I spent the whole day at your house, waiting for my baby brother to be born! You - you told me I couldn’t be there with them because kids weren’t allowed in the delivery room, and it’d be boring waiting there all day anyway. It rained that morning!”

Cass’ chest clutched the air in her lungs.

The memory washed through her mind. Tadashi had been so excited and impatient to meet his brother and see their parents.

He was telling her Tadashi’s memories, in an attempt to get her to believe him. Anyone could have known that, though, if they evidently knew enough to play such a cruel prank on her. The story of the boys’ births had never been secrets. Distant family and old friends knew those kind of details.

“And - and!” he struggled for words. “When I was - When I was eleven! You came with me to career day even though you weren’t my mom and I was upset that Mom and Dad couldn’t come! You cheered me up in the truck by telling me that you’d never try to replace them, but you’d do everything you could for us boys. I felt bad for making you feel bad, like I didn’t want you there, but you told me you knew that wasn’t what I meant and understood why I was sad. Hiro was the only one there who could have heard that, and he was four and picking at his toenails in his carseat! I pinched his cheeks for throwing his toenails at me and you yelled at us!”

Cass felt her stomach clench. She remembered that, too. She knew for a fact Hiro didn’t because when they once told him the story of the toenails - leaving out Tadashi’s troubles - for a laugh, he’d been so confused and said he didn’t remember any of it.

No one else had been there in the truck with them and the windows had been up.

“When I was eight!” he gasped, and the tears fell down in his cheeks in streams, his eyes squeezing halfway closed. “When I was eight, I went to you in secret because I was afraid of hurting Mom and Dad. I told you how scared I was that I’d ruined Christmas because I’d used the Christmas lights in an experiment I found online and tried to copy! They burst everywhere in the attic, and while I was - I was okay, I thought Christmas would be ruined because we didn’t have lights to string up anymore! And Mom and Dad would be so upset! You - you were babysitting me and Hiro at home that day, so you cleaned up the broken glass, ordered me not to help even though I wanted to because I felt bad because I might cut myself, and then you took us to the store to buy new lights! You _promised_ we’d keep it a secret between us, and I never told anyone, _PLEASE,_ Aunt Cass, you have to believe me - !”

 _No one_ knew about that. She hadn’t broken her promise either, hadn’t even told her sister when she got suspicious that the lights were less tangled than usual, even though Cass had tried to tangle them up right, and they burned brighter than they had the year before. Those conversations with Tadashi had taken place in the privacy of their home, with a napping one year old in the other room as the closest thing to a witness.

Cass couldn’t take it anymore. She whipped around the counter and threw herself at him, squeezing Tadashi with all her might as she dug her chin into his shoulder.

“My baby boy,” she cried out. “God, my baby boy! How are you back? How are you alive!?”

“Long story,” he sobbed out. “Long - awful - story!”

Cass shot open her eyes. The mothering instinct kicked in and without thinking, she tore herself away from him.

“Get out!” she shouted at her customers, a move she’d regret later yet couldn’t bring herself to care now. “Get out! If you haven’t paid yet, congratulations, free food! This is a family emergency, and the café is closed! We’re closing, _leave!”_

It took more than a few moments for everyone to beat it, some high-tailing it while others tried to linger to watch, but soon enough the café was empty.

It was just them left.

Cass squeezed Tadashi back to her, cradling the back of his neck in her hand. He only sobbed over her shoulder, his body convulsing in her arms.

“Tell me what happened, my sweet boy,” she said, her voice shaking as tears filled her own eyes. “Tell me how you’re alive. Then we’re going to the hospital and the police.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to update this fairly regularly. No promises of course, but it's a goal of mine. I already have chapter two written and in need of editing, and chapter three started.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter of crying, stammering, stuttering, and stumbling over your own words - or, the chapter of dashes and ellipses. I apologize in advance.

It was 11:53 when Hiro bounded up the side steps of the house, the street lights glowing yellow behind him. Baymax waddled after him, carefully climbing the stairs as Hiro unlocked and pushed open the door.

“Whoo!” Hiro cheered. “Seven minutes to midnight, which means we didn’t break curfew this time! Aunt Cass is going to be so happy.”

“Her dopamine and serotonin levels should increase compared to nights in which we are late,” Baymax agreed.

Hiro stepped inside and held the door open for him. “Yup! You got it, buddy. Man, am I glad that hold up tonight didn’t take as long as I thought it would. We would have been in BIG trouble if Aunt Cass actually drove to SFIT and didn’t find us anywhere.”

One of San Fransokyo’s banks had been targeted by a group of robbers this afternoon. They had been heavily armed, and took the fourteen people inside hostage when the police surrounded the place. News had broken out about it while the gang had been in the library studying for upcoming mid-terms; by then, the hostage situation had been going on for three hours.

They’d rushed to get into gear and head down to help. Hiro had called Aunt Cass ahead of time just in case the hostage situation continued on late into the night. He wasn’t kidding when he said those guys had been _heavily_ armed; Big Hero 6 was famous for their crime fighting by this point, well loved by the city for stopping thieves, saving run away trolleys, and beating big bads like the Fujitas and Bonsai Bombers - and these guys were willing to put up the fight to get their loot. The team had to respond carefully in this situation, to make sure they snuck in undetected and disarmed the crooks without getting anybody hurt.

Luckily, they’d eventually gotten in safely, took out the guards wandering the halls, and beat the leaders of the group without seriously harming anyone, hostage or crook.

“Our programming prevents us from injuring another human being,” he’d told Callaghan before Baymax crushed his Yokai mask.

That was a value the team upheld.

In the end, the police arrested the robbers, the bank was freed, and not a single dime was lost. By nine o’clock the gang had been able to return to the university library to keep studying for mid-terms, worry-free.

Though Fred _did_ go on all night about how awesome they’d been, speaking in third person of Big Hero 6 so their identities weren’t revealed, and was scolded by the librarian no less than four times. He was lucky, his mid-terms weren’t until a week after SFIT’s, so he was less concerned about studying than they were.

Hiro snickered at the memory. Gogo had gotten so frustrated with how noisy he’d been, sprawled lazily in his chair while the rest of them were bent over their books, that she’d stood up and knocked him over the head with hers, telling him to shut up if he wasn’t going to take their exams seriously. Fred had grinned at her, but said no more, finally opening up the inked out notebooks he’d brought.

“But Aunt Cass would have found us in library,” Baymax blinked down at him. “We were just there.”

“I know,” Hiro closed the door and spun on his heel. “I mean if the mission had gone on longer like it usually does and we missed curfew because we were still at the bank, we would have been in BIG trouble. You know, because Aunt Cass wouldn’t have found us at the library then.”

“Oh,” Baymax replied. “I see now. That is indeed fortunate.”

Hiro smiled.

He’d really grown attached to the robot since the time he’d stubbed his toe and accidently activated him. He was a lovable bot and made a great companion - just as Tadashi had intended him to be.

Hiro’s heart panged. He felt his smile droop, but it didn’t fall.

It was hard without his big brother watching over him anymore. Their bedroom upstairs and the garage around back felt so lonely without him sometimes, with no one to pipe up and tease him, or hold tools over his head, or duck over his shoulder to help him with a problem he was having with an invention. The pain of his death had never really went away, it just got easier to live with.

He honestly did wish Tadashi was still by his side. He wished he hadn’t died. His big brother had been his best friend, and they’d been meant to do so much more together. He missed him every day.

But Hiro wasn’t alone, and Tadashi wasn’t truly gone. He believed that now. Tadashi’s memory was ever alive - in their hearts and memories, in Big Hero 6, and Baymax. The gang and Aunt Cass remembered him fondly and shared his loss, were his biggest supporters when grief creeped up on him again and became too much. Big Hero 6 had been formed in order to bring justice to his death, and they’d remained superheroes in his honor, in order to help people like he’d always wanted. And Baymax, his last invention and one of his greatest in Hiro’s opinion, was both a beloved, lasting link to his brother and had become like a second brother to him in their time together. When all else failed to cheer him up, Baymax stood before him with open arms and gentle compassion. 

And Tadashi hadn’t truly disappeared from his day to day life anyhow. He was here in Hiro’s future, always his inspiration and a motivator in his goals, and in his personal lab that Hiro now worked in. He was the reason Hiro was at SFIT at all, had obtained a grant for his hard work and future creations, and Hiro would never forget that. He owed him for putting him down the right path and always believing in him, never giving up on him.

Hiro glanced back at his backpack over his shoulder with a sad smile. Not to mention, he kept Tadashi’s hat with him at all times. It sat on his bed in their room, hung on the lamp in his (their?) lab, and was in his bookbag at all other times. He carried a piece of Tadashi with him, a memento of sorts.

“Hiro,” Baymax called gently, “are you all right?”

“Yeah, buddy, I am,” he answered warmly. With a pepped up kick in his step, Hiro leaped up the first step of the stairway to the apartment. “Let’s go show Aunt Cass how not late we are!”

He bounced up the steps, Baymax climbing carefully behind him.

It was half way up the stairs that Hiro noticed something was amiss.

He came to a stop and checked his phone.

“Hiro?” Baymax inquired.

It was 11:55. Not midnight yet, yet all the lights were on in the apartment, shining brightly from the top of the stairs. Usually when they got home past curfew, most of the lights were off. Maybe a lamp in the living room was on in the distance, or the blue light of the TV glowed across the room, but never all of them. And that was when they _broke_ curfew.

Hiro grimaced. Aunt Cass had been strict on the phone earlier when it came to the times. Maybe she had finally gotten fed up with him and fully expected him to be late again, so she had all the lights on in anticipation of scolding him for a _long_ time. It was close enough to midnight; she was probably preparing to yell as they stood there.

Well, he wasn’t technically late, not yet. Even if she hadn’t heard the door downstairs, it wasn’t midnight yet; they still had five minutes. She couldn’t yell at him for being on time - well, she could for cutting it so close, but he really hoped she wouldn’t.

“I think I’m about to get my ear torn off, buddy,” he murmured to Baymax out the corner of his mouth.

He heard the computerized _eenh_ as Baymax inclined his head. “How so? I detect no danger.”

“It’s another expression, Baymax.”

“Oh. I see.”

Hiro tentatively made his way up the rest of the steps, tilting his head as the kitchen came into view around the railing. No sign of Aunt Cass, glaring with her arms crossed, there.

He made a quiet stride across the floor, venturing a look in the living room.

What he found startled him.

Aunt Cass was indeed in the living room, sitting on the couch - with her back turned towards the stairs. There was somebody else on the couch, somebody Hiro couldn’t see properly as Aunt Cass was cradling them in her arms, their face buried in her neck. All he could see was black hair, light skin, and baggy jeans.

He had no idea _what_ to think at a bizarre sight like this.

“Who’s that?” he whispered to Baymax, furrowing his brow.

Who would be at their house at this time of night, much less being hugged by his aunt? Surely not - not a boyfriend, right? No, that was ridiculous; Aunt Cass barely dated and certainly didn’t sneak around about her dates. Never mind that this did _not_ look like a date that lost track of the time to him.

Baymax waddled up next to him. He scanned the living room.

“That is Aunt Cass,” he stated neutrally, no effort to lower his tone, “and Tadashi. You told me Tadash had died in the fire, Hiro.”

Hiro’s stomach flipped inside out. His entire body froze, muscles tightening.

_‘Coul- What?’_

Baymax hadn’t just said what he thought he said, had he? Could it really be?

Aunt Cass and the person instantly broke apart on the couch, jumping at the sound of Baymax’s voice.

Aunt Cass whipped her head around and stared at them in a kind of baffled horror, her arms held up at her sides and dry tears streaking her face.

The other person - Hiro’s stomach did another, higher flip.

That was Tadashi. That was _undoubtedly_ Tadashi. His brother’s face gawked at him with wide eyes.

But...that wasn’t it. It was definitely Tadashi, yet he...wasn’t right either.

If Aunt Cass was staring at him with a kind of baffled horror, Tadashi gazed at him in a sort of stupefied manner. Like - almost like he couldn’t believe Hiro was there. Or maybe it wasn’t Hiro he was stupefied at. Or maybe ‘stupefied’ wasn’t the correct word. Haunted sounded better. His brother looked haunted.

Tadashi was pale. Too pale, like he hadn’t seen the sun in forever. Bags hung under his eyes, dark and black. His hair seemed hastily brushed, which wasn’t at all normal for Tadashi, who never failed to make fun of Hiro’s perpetual bedhead and pretended to introduce him to a hairbrush. The jeans, flannel shirt, and white T-shirt were perhaps half a size too big for him. Tadashi used to dress snugly, many of his clothes just not quite pulling across his skin.

That didn’t change the fact this was his brother sitting there, however. His dead brother. His _dead_ brother whose body had been retrieved from a burning building and buried under a headstone.

Hiro’s heart pounded incessantly in his chest. His brain felt short-circuited. This didn’t make any sense. This did not compute. He didn’t understand. Had Tadashi somehow faked his death, like Callaghan, leaving behind a body and all - ?

“Hiro,” Aunt Cass croaked, and gestured with her fingers for him to come here. “We need to talk.”

Her vocal chords were strained. She’d definitely been crying, for hours by the sound of it. He hadn’t heard her sound like that since Tadashi died.

Or hadn’t died. He didn’t get it.

What he was seeing couldn’t be real.

“Tadashi,” Baymax spoke up, “my scan has indicated that your brain has changed since I last scanned you. It is currently similar to models in my database of brains with: post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Hiro’s throat dried. PTSD. He thought only soldiers and abuse victims got that.

For half a second, Tadashi didn’t react. Then, Hiro watched as a wry smile slowly spread across his face. He heard his brother’s laugh come out between cracked lips.

“That so?” he replied, his voice subdued and aching. “Well, I’ll have to get a doctor’s diagnosis when we go to the hospital.”

Hospital.

Hiro launched himself across the room. He didn’t realize he’d done it until he was crashing into Tadaashi’s chest, wrapping his arms snake tight around him and burying his face in his shoulder as his brother ‘oof!’ed.

“Tadashi!” he whined. “How - How are you alive!? When did you get here!? Why didn’t - Why didn’t either of you call me!? The others - The gang - I should have - WHY!?”

_‘Why are you here, how did you survive, why didn’t you come home, why did you leave us, why didn’t you tell us, where were you, how are you here now, why are you here now, are you going to leave again, please don’t leave again, pleasedon’tleavemeagain,bigbrother - ’_

Hiro heaved in a deep breath. Behind his eyelids tears were forming fast.

His brother was real. He was hugging Tadashi again. This had to be a dream.

Slowly, Hiro felt Tadashi’s arms - they were still his strong arms - wrap around him, then grip him so tight Hiro didn’t think he could squirm out of them if he wanted to. Aunt Cass’ arms came next, enveloping the two of them, and her cheek rested on Hiro’s hair. Baymax wasn’t late to join in, practically covering the three of them with his large body.

“Meow.”

Hiro blinked open his eyes. He saw Mochi lying on the back of the couch, nuzzling his head against the back of Tadashi’s.

He closed his eyes again.

The whole family was here, he shuddered in the middle of the hug. They were here, not just in their hearts, but alive and physically together. Their family was back together.

 _‘Please don’t leave again, big brother,’_ he thought to himself, his new biggest worry. _‘Please don’t be another dream either.’_

He’d had dreams of Tadashi being alive before. Aunt Cass said that was normal; she sometimes had dreams of Mom and Dad being alive, as well as Tadashi, and told him Tadashi used to get them, too. Baymax confirmed it’s normalcy.

This didn’t feel like a dream, but he couldn’t be sure. Tadashi was back. How could a dead man return to life?

“I’ve missed you,” Hiro started when he realized it was Tadashi’s voice speaking, creaking and wobbling, not his own. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you guys. I’m so happy to be home. You have no idea…”

Aunt Cass shook her head against Hiro’s hair as he trailed off. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re with us now. It’s all over. You’re safe.”

Tadashi crushed Hiro to his frame. He sobbed loud in his ear.

“I’m sorry!” he cried. “If I could turn back time - if I could - could take it all back - if I coulda changed anything - I never wanted this, I swear, _I never wanted this!”_

Tadashi rocked himself underneath them all, crying freely into Hiro and Aunt Cass’ bodies.

Mochi purred soothingly.

“It will be all right,” Baymax reassured lightly. “We will help you. You don’t have to brave your feelings alone.”

Hiro dug in nails into Tadashi’s back and pressed his face further into his shirt. No, he wouldn’t have to. If this was real, they’d help him however they could.

Really; his brain was similar to models in Baymax’s database depicting PTSD after all. God, what had happened to him?

Hiro pulled back slightly, bumping his head against Tadashi’s chin.

“Big brother,” his voice shook, “what happened that night? Where - Where did you go? How did you get home?”

Tadashi gave a heavy, trembling sigh. When he closed his mouth, Hiro could hear his throat swallowing. He licked his lips.

“It’s a...it’s a long story, little brother,” he muttered through the tears. “In short, I was kidnapped. Someone - someone had been stalking me for a long time. I never knew. He - He was there the night of the fire. Turned out he’d been waiting for - for a chance to nab me for a while. The fire was a...was a perfect distraction, made better by - by the fact I went in there. No one even knew I was _gone,”_ his voice went high-pitched on the last word.

Ice shot through Hiro.

They’d never known he was gone. They would have searched for him if they had. If they’d any idea he’d survived the fire, they would have. But they hadn’t, so they didn’t.

Something bothered him, though.

“There was a body,” Hiro protested weakly. “They pulled a body out. How did you...?”

“He was a _sick_ man, Hiro,” Tadashi suddenly spat. “That’s all you need to know. He had a double prepared for me for when he eventually made it look like I died in an accident. That body wasn’t real, not me, but - but it was real enough no one would have thought - ” he broke off with a whine.

Hiro didn’t understand. “Wouldn’t the coroners - ?”

“It was real _enough,_ Hiro,” Tadashi cut him off. “The guy knew his - his biology. That’s all I’m telling you. Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.”

Hiro shuddered. He didn’t know what that meant, but his imagination supplied a few answers that, while he doubted they were it, put him off greatly.

_Accident._

He furrowed his brow, a new thought striking him. “Was he working with Callaghan? Did Callaghan _know_ you were alive and give you to this guy?”

The fire had given the kidnapper the perfect opportunity. Had his microbots not been the only reason Callaghan set the fire? Had he been working with someone else, someone disturbingly interested in his brother? Had the kidnapper helped him out in exchange for Tadashi, like, helping him steal the microbots or set up that facility in the warehouse? Giving him the tech he needed to manufacture more microbots?

The thought made Hiro’s blood boil. _“That was his mistake!”_ Callaghan had yelled on Akuma Island. No actual word on Tadashi’s status as alive or dead. He could have meant that his mistake was giving the stalker an even better opportunity to take him, not putting his life on the line and getting incinerated for it.

If Hiro had known that on Akuma Island, in addition to Callaghan abandoning Tadashi and not caring the slightest bit - well, that was a scary thought. He didn’t want to think of what he’d have done to the man.

“No,” Tadashi replied harshly. “He didn’t. He had nothing to do with it. If he hadn’t done what he did, I probably wouldn’t have been taken that night, but he wasn’t involved. All Callaghan knew - and cared about - was getting revenge for his daughter. Nothing more. I was eventually going to get kidnapped anyway.”

Hiro sucked in rapid breaths upon hearing that. It was what he’d figured, based on the previous information, but it was different hearing it directly.

It was different as the meaning fully sunk in.

Tadashi was going to get kidnapped anyway. Someone had deliberately targeted his brother, with the intent to publicly kill him off and take him away. It was over now, Aunt Cass said, and he was home again, but the knowledge sent prickles running through Hiro’s arms. One way or the other, he was always going to lose his brother.

 _‘We should have known,’_ he groaned to himself in regret. _‘Somehow, we should have known. We should have investigated his death more. We should have found out the body wasn’t real and Tadashi was out there somewhere, being hurt. Big Hero 6 should have saved him. We should have saved him.’_

He keened, falling back into Tadashi’s shoulder and burrowing his nose in his neck. Some superheroes they were. They couldn’t even save the one they’d formed the team for, whose memory they fought in. They hadn’t even guessed.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m sorry. We should have - We didn’t know - ! I’m sorry, big brother. I’m so, so sorry!”

Aunt Cass’ thin hand came around to stroke his hair.

“Shhh,” she hushed. “It’s no one’s fault, sweetheart. No one except for the monster that took him, and Callaghan for giving him the chance to. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It will be all right,” Baymax encouraged. “An investigation will likely begin in response to Tadashi’s return, and justice will come to whoever took him. You could not have known, Hiro, no more than you could have known the fire wasn’t an accident.”

Heh, right, Hiro thought bitterly.

It had taken a supposedly broken microbot and Baymax’s naive social skills for him to figure out the fire wasn’t an accident. Had Krei never almost walked off with his microbot and Tadashi demand he give it back to his brother, or Baymax never been activated, he would have never found out until it was too late and Krei was dead.

How could he have known about this? Hiro didn’t know. They were right, he guessed. But that didn’t help him. From what little he’d heard so far and could presume, Tadashi must have been through hell these _past seven months._ Seven months he didn’t have to go through, seven months he could have been home, safe. Never mind how Hiro had grieved and tried to move on; he couldn’t imagine what Tadashi felt, being tortured to the point Baymax scanned PTSD from his brain, knowing that no one would ever search for him because they thought he was dead.

“Tadashi!” he wailed. “Tadashi, _Tadashiiii!”_

Tadashi’s larger hand replaced Aunt Cass’, carding through his hair.

“It’s okay, Hiro,” he murmured. “I’m never leaving again. He won’t hurt me, or anyone else, anymore. He can’t.”

Hiro shook his head. While that might have been a relief, he was too overwhelmed to feel it.

They should have saved him.

They should have _saved_ him.

“How...How did you escape?” he forced his voice down so he wouldn’t howl the words, making it quiver instead. “Did - did the police...rescue you?”

Tadashi was silent a moment. “No,” he murmured. “They didn’t.”

“Hiro,” Aunt Cass rubbed his back beneath Baymax’s belly, “a - a bad man kidnapped your brother. Worse than Callaghan if you can believe it. He did...awful things. _Really_ awful things.”

“Things I don’t want you to ever know about,” Tadashi finished quickly. “He was essentially a top notch supervillain, all right? The kind Big Hero 6 sometimes fights, only ten times worse. Twenty times. I’m don’t believe even they could have stopped him. I got out...got out by sheer accident.”

Hiro reluctantly pulled away once more. “What do you mean?”

Tadashi’s face crumpled. It burned bright red over his too pale skin, his eyes squishing into themselves and bursting out a new waterfall of tears.

Aunt Cass took the reigns sharply. “Your brother told me he made a mistake in his lab. A lethal one. It killed him. That’s why he’s never going to bother us again.”

Hiro faltered. “H-How?”

“Explosive,” Tadashi choked out. “He was - was making them. He made a mistake, put the wrong amount of compounds together, his finger slipped, I don’t know! I heard a bang in the lab and when I went to investigate...he was gone. That’s all I know.”

Hiro swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. He wondered how sick it was that part of him - a large part of him - was glad for that. Not because the man was dead, but so Tadashi could escape him. Still, it had to be sick that he was glad a person was dead. It went against what he’d learned as a hero.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry - I’m sorry Big Hero 6, or the police, or anyone - didn’t save you. That you had to wait for _that.”_

Tadashi’s eyes snapped open. He gawked at Hiro for a long moment, his eyes unreadable.

Then, he steadily said, “...No. It’s okay. No one could have known.” He inhaled a shaky breath. “I’m just glad to be home. There’s a lot I want to forget. That I _hope_ I’ll forget. Don’t feel bad, though, Hiro. There wasn’t a single way anyone could have saved me. He was...ridiculously intelligent and twice as paranoid. Trust me, there were no clues a single person or - or superhero team could have picked up on.”

Hiro couldn’t bring himself to debate whether that was true. Regardless of whether they could have saved him, they _should_ have. He was his brother, Baymax’s creator, and all of their best friend. And they just let him be tortured.

Aunt Cass pulled lightly out of the hug, prompting Baymax to let go of everyone. She stroked both of them behind the ears.

“We’re going to the authorities tomorrow,” she said. “The police have to know about this and I want Tadashi checked out by professionals. Sorry, Baymax, it’s nothing against you or your scans.”

Tadashi gave a sparse laugh at that. “He’s not a patented, registered, well known to the world healthcare companion yet. Sorry, buddy; no one in the medical field is going to take you seriously without an examination on their end.”

“Besides,” Aunt Cass frowned, unsure, “they’re probably going to want to verify that it’s you. They might do a blood test or cheek swab, and compare you to a sample I give.”

Tadashi nodded solemnly. “I figured as much. I know you believe me, Aunt Cass, the law just has to believe me, too.”

Hiro hesitantly removed himself from his brother’s lap, flopping over onto the cushion next to him. Mochi jumped down onto his legs. Hiro absently petted him. “When are we going?”

“First thing in the morning,” she answered. “I’m not opening the café tomorrow. Who knows how long this will take. We all need some sleep first.” She wavered. “Do I need to call you in sick for school? I mean, this is a family emergency, not a normal sick day, so they can’t hold it against you, can they? I know you’ll want to be there, but your classes - Oh, god, what do I even say on the phone? Tadashi’s alive, please excuse Hiro from class while we tell everybody? Geez, this is going to be awkward.”

She put her hand on her head in frustrated wonder.

“You don’t have to call me in sick,” Hiro told her. “I can miss the classes. After everyone finds out he’s alive, I’ll talk to my professors. Or the administration office. Whoever’s in charge of that stuff.”

Aunt Cass looked like she wanted to argue. She shook her head silently, though, and sighed. “Sleep. We all need sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be rough, I can already feel it.” She smoothed a hand down Tadashi’s back. “We’re gonna be here for you every step of the way, sweetie. If they try to put you in a room by yourself and you don’t want that, holler. You have rights and I’ll be right there with you, no matter how much they try to keep me out.”

Tadashi chuckled without much humor. “Thank you, Aunt Cass. I love you.”

“I love you, too!” She grabbed him in a bear-tight hug before letting go. “I’m - I’m going to clean up the café. Goodness knows there’s old food that’s been sitting down there for hours. And I need to lock up. We don’t want ants or break ins! You two...you two get some sleep. Hiro, are you okay, or do you need me to stay up here a little while longer?”

Hiro offered her an appreciative smile. “I think I’m okay.”

She nodded. “Okay. Good. All right, I’m...I’ll be back up in a bit. If - If either of you don’t feel comfortable sleeping alone, or can’t sleep, feel free to come to my room. We’ll make it a sleep over, like when you boys were little.”

They both copied her nod.

“Got it, Aunt Cass,” Hiro said.

“Thank you,” Tadashi told her.

Aunt Cass hesitated, as if she wanted to say more.

When nothing came, Baymax stepped over to her and held out a vinyl hand. “Are you in need of assistance, Aunt Cass? I will help you up.”

“Oh, thank you, Baymax,” she accepted his hand. Standing up, she lingered, looking over the two and clasping her hands together. “Are you boys _sure_ you don’t need me? Because if you do, I’ll be in the café. Don’t worry about bothering me, or giving me my space. I want you boys to come to me i-if you need it.”

Baymax tilted his head. “I detect distress. Aunt Cass, would like me to accompany you down to the café? I can assist in cleaning, as well as listen to whatever concerns or feelings you would like to vent.”

Tadashi quirked one side of his lips up in a smile. “Go with her, buddy. We’ll be fine, Aunt Cass. That all right with you, Hiro?”

He glanced at Baymax. He could tell Aunt Cass needed somebody, too, but probably didn’t want to put what she was thinking on them. “Yeah. We’re going up to bed.”

“Okay.” Aunt Cass breathed in deeply. “Remember what I said, I don’t mind. I’ll never mind. Uh, let’s go, Baymax.”

Mochi jumped down to follow them.

Hiro waited until they disappeared down the staircase to look up at his brother.

“Is this real?” he whispered, voice cracking.

Tadashi gave him a watery smile. “Yeah. Somehow, it is.”

Hiro had a million questions and a million more things to say. They all beat around in his head, and he could think of none to say first.

Tadashi quietly grabbed his hand and helped him up as he stood, leading him to their bedroom stairs.

They walked up them silently, together, and Tadashi flicked on the lights at the top, releasing Hiro’s hand.

He inhaled. “I almost didn’t think I’d see my bed again.”

Hiro’s stomach twisted. He didn’t know if he meant because of his kidnapper or because he thought they would have torn down his side of the room by now.

He decided to play it safe.

“We kept everything,” he informed him. “Aunt Cass cleans it sometimes, but we never threw anything out. It’s a - a memorial of sorts, I guess.”

That’s what Aunt Cass had called it shortly after the fire, when Hiro had asked her what they would do, afraid she’d pack up all of Tadashi’s stuff and lock it away out of sight in the basement. After all, it wasn’t like anyone would be coming home to use them again. She hadn’t, though, only teared up and wiped his face with her thumb and explained to him no.

He’d researched it online. Apparently, a lot of parents left their children’s rooms alone when they died. Whether they couldn’t bear to touch anything or wanted to keep it the way it was in memory of their children, the room stayed. He hadn’t delved too deep beyond that; he was only glad Tadashi’s side was staying.

Now he was doubly glad they hadn’t torn it down.

Tadashi nodded slowly. “It looks exactly like I left it. Thanks.”

Neither of them moved towards their beds.

Hiro swung his arms. “So…” he struggled to think of something to say, “I have Baymax. I mean, he’s not _mine,_ but he’s been active while you were...while you were gone.”

Tadashi looked down at him. His lips quirked up a bit. “I know. I saw you come home with him. You take him to SFIT with you?”

Hiro scratched the back of his head, bashful. “Yeeaah. He’s, um, he makes a good companion. Not just a healthcare companion.”

“I’m glad,” Tadash replied. “That’s good to hear. He’ll be great when he starts working at hospitals and nursing homes. And he kept you happy. Right?”

Hiro lifted his head, surprised. “Yeah, he did. He definitely kept my spirits up when, uh, they got low. Are - Are you still planning to put him in hospitals and stuff?”

“Of course. Now that I’m back I - I want to do _everything_ I planned on.” He frowned. “And more. But he’s not the only Baymax I’ll build. Eventually, I’ll copy his chip and put it in a whole line of Baymaxes. Someday. You don’t have to worry about parting with him, I was probably always going to keep the original anyway.”

Hiro flinched. He wasn’t worried about that. More importantly, however, he wondered if he should tell Tadashi Baymax wasn’t quite the ‘original’ anymore; although his chip was the same one with Tadashi’s name on it, the body was a reconstruction.

No; that would mean telling him about Big Hero 6. He wasn’t ready to tell him about that yet, nor did he believe Tadashi was in the right place to hear it. He had enough on his plate already, without having to learn that his little brother, best friends, and non-violent creation put themselves in danger on a regular basis to fight crime.

Hiro jolted. “Wait, how do you know about Big Hero 6? And Callaghan and his daughter?”

Tadashi started.

Hiro immediately withered. “I mean, they didn’t show up until you were gone, and the Callaghan thing happened after, too. Did - Were you allowed to watch the news, or…?”

Tadashi stared blankly at him. “I told you,” he began evenly, “the man who kidnapped me was ridiculously intelligent and twice as paranoid. I was somewhere between an apprentice and slave to him, Hiro. I watched the same monitors he did. He was wary of Callaghan after the fire, in case he was up to anything that would hinder his plans. He watched him carefully, and Big Hero 6.”

A shiver ran up Hiro’s spine. Partially it came from hearing his brother had been a slave, partially out of fear the man might have known who they were.

But if Tadashi knew their real identities, he didn’t say so. And that’s something Hiro believed he would have brought up.

“I’ll talk to the police about his cameras tomorrow,” was all he said.

Hiro nodded numbly. “What...What was his name? The guy who kidnapped you?”

The haunted expression returned to Tadashi’s face.

For a moment, Hiro thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he stated, “Farinelli. You’ll hear it in the news anyway.”

“Farinelli?” Hiro repeated as Tadashi marched over to his bed.

“It was his last name,” Tadashi threw back the covers. “Don’t ask me his first name, I don’t want to say his name ever again after tomorrow.”

His flat tone scared Hiro. What had this Farinelli guy done to his brother?

Hiro walked nervously to the bottom of the bed.

Tadashi plopped himself down and scooted to the middle. He pressed his palms into the sheets, bouncing the mattress slightly. He almost seemed in awe of them.

“Did he let you have a bed?” Hiro blurted out.

Tadashi jerked his head up, bewildered. “What? Yes. I had a bed, Hiro.”

 _But this one is mine,_ he didn’t say aloud.

Hiro winced, berating himself for asking such a stupid question.

Another thought dawned on him, then, and he ripped off his backpack and unzipped it. “Hey! I - I still have your hat.”

He pulled it out, dropping the backpack to the floor. The San Fransokyo Ninjas symbol showed itself proudly to him.

Tadashi’s face instantly softened. “You do. You’ve been carrying that around with you?”

“I have,” he admitted nervously. “It, and uh, Baymax, they’re like having pieces of you around. With me at all times. Inspiring and...helping me. Made me feel less like you were gone.”

Tadashi’s mouth slipped into a sympathetic frown. “I’m sorry you had to feel like that.”

He shook his head. “It’s not your fault.”

He held the hat out.

Tadashi leaned forward and took it gingerly, thumbing the edges.

“Hiro,” he breathed. “Thanks for this.” He raised his head, eyes wet once more. “I’m sorry I left you outside the hall like that. I don’t - I don’t regret trying to save Callaghan, and he would have kidnapped me no matter what, but I’m sorry, little brother. The amount of pain I put you guys through when you thought I was dead - ”

“That’s not your fault either!” Hiro interrupted, clenching his fists. “You didn’t mean to die, or - or get kidnapped. Don’t blame yourself, Tadashi, I can’t take that!”

He couldn’t. His heart was breaking inside.

_Big brother, what did they do to you?_

Tadashi’s face fell back into a blank stare. A beat passed. He lifted the covers.

“Stay with me?” he asked quietly.

That, Hiro could do.

Not caring that he was still in his jacket and shoes, Hiro crawled into bed and tucked himself under the covers. Tadashi let them fall, and the two snuggled up against one another.

They hadn’t done something like this in years. It was too intimate and they were growing up. Yet that didn’t bug them now; they _both_ needed this, to be close to one another.

Tadashi threw an arm around him while Hiro buried his face in his neck.

Neither said anything about the light that remained on.

An immeasurably amount of time passed before Hiro heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Tadashi rolled over on his back.

Aunt Cass smiled softly at them, Baymax beside her holding Mochi.

“Sleep over,” she murmured.

Aunt Cass flipped the light off and approached the bed, climbing up on Tadashi’s other side. She wrapped her arms around both of them.

“I can’t believe I have both my boys back,” she whispered. “My baby boys.”

Mochi launched himself on top of the foot of the bed.

Baymax watched them a moment, then climbed into his carrier, deactivating.

It wasn’t long until Hiro fell asleep, his family all around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is happy and relieved Tadashi's back, but his return still brings up a tsunami of emotions. They thought he was dead, they mourned him, they missed him, and now they're incredibly happy he's back, but he's also clearly been traumatized and they also now have to go through the social and legal hoops of telling everyone he's back. That's going to be stressful. Not to mention, for Hiro in particular, no one knows the full story of what went on while he was gone. Then there's Tadashi, who's going through his own hoops finally being free and home. It's going to be an adjustment for everyone.
> 
> Since this is almost entirely going to be in Hiro's point of view and takes place after Farinelli's death, Tadashi's kidnapper is less important as a character than he is as this figure in Hiro's head that surely must have tortured his brother if he was stalking him, faked his death, kidnapped him, and did such horrible things that Tadashi says he doesn't believe Big Hero 6 could have stopped him and came back with what Baymax reports is likely PTSD.
> 
> In the next chapter we'll see the gang!


	3. Chapter 3

“Tadashi’s _what!?”_ Gogo exclaimed, leaning forward with her fists closed, her face incredulous.

Hiro kept his head tucked down. Below his feet the children’s swing swung back and forth the slightest bit. His hands felt like part of the metal chains by now, red and raw from clutching for so long.

It had been two days since Tadashi came home. To Hiro, they had seemed more like a whirlwind than days, so much so the moment he felt free enough to run and Tadashi well enough to leave alone, he’d taken off for the nearest park to clear his head.

The morning after Tadashi’s return had been hard to wake up from. By the time he got out of bed, it’d been nearly ten and Aunt Cass and Tadshi were gone. Hiro had panicked for a moment that it had all been a dream after all, that Tadashi was really dead, until Baymax activated at the sound of his moans. He’d confirmed the night before was indeed real, and they’d gone downstairs to find Aunt Cass and Tadashi in the kitchen. They’d had coffee and barely eaten breakfasts on the table, and Aunt Cass had a plate of eggs and toast ready for Hiro.

“I was about to come up there to wake you,” she’d told him with a light smile.

Tadashi had changed out of his clothes, back into his normal ones. He wore his old Ghost Ninja shirt under his favorite yellow sweater and brown slacks tied up with a belt. Hiro didn’t know what he did with the flannel and jeans, because they weren’t in with the laundry or the trash. His old clothes fit him better than they had, but it was clear his brother had lost weight while he was gone. At least his hat still fit; that sat on his head, as normal as ever.

Baymax stayed with them through breakfast, but when it was time for them to get ready to go, Tadashi had insisted he stay home.

“The police are going to question how much I told you guys,” he’d explained firmly. “Trust me, this is something they’re going to want to cover up so the whole city doesn’t get the details. I don’t want them thinking Baymax knows something so they’ll take and - and dismantle him or something. To keep there from being any proof that gets out.”

It’d sounded paranoid to Hiro. But what did he know? Maybe Tadashi was right, or maybe being around this Farinelli guy had given him his own dose of paranoia. He hadn’t been okay with leaving Baymax at home - they all needed the emotional support - but they honored Tadashi’s wishes.

“Hiro?” Tadashi had then looked at him. “Would you stay home, too?”

The question was asked quietly, hesitantly. Tadashi wanted him to know as little of the details as possible, wanted him involved as little as possible.

That was a no. Hiro wasn’t going to sit around at home while his brother and aunt spent who knew how long at the hospital and police station. It was bad enough Baymax couldn’t come; he’d worry his head off if he stayed home. He might as well have gone to school in that case.

The hospital visit had been the easiest part of the day. Hiro got to stay with Aunt Cass, and Tadashi for the most part, while they examined him from head to toe for injury and performed a quick psyche evaluation. He’d watched as they drew blood from both Tadashi and Aunt Cass, and listened as they compared Tadashi’s sample with past samples on file. It was him all right. They didn’t diagnose him with PTSD, but they were worried about his mental state.

It was the hospital that contacted the police, who showed up no less than a half hour after the doctors finished with Tadashi. They’d questioned him in private, then Hiro and Aunt Cass. It was off to the station after that, where Tadashi was locked away behind a closed door for hours. Hiro waited anxiously during those hours, Aunt Cass holding him close. He couldn’t concentrate on anything, including his phone when Aunt Cass recommended he play a game on it to pass the time. At one point they called him and Aunt Cass in, separated them, and questioned them about Tadashi’s return, the fire, and everything Tadashi had told them the night before and that morning. It lasted no longer than an hour.

It was dark outside when they finally saw Tadashi again - in handcuffs and being walked to another door. Hiro had freaked out, shouting and screaming for his brother, demanding to know why they were arresting him, and had to be held down by Aunt Cass. Tadashi only stared at the floor, emotionally exhausted and looking worn down.

Two officers came by and explained they were keeping Tadashi overnight. They weren’t sure if he was a danger or not, and although they appreciated his coming and cooperation, they didn’t want him getting spooked and trying to flee the city.

Hiro had yelled, demanding to know why on Earth they’d think Tadashi - Tadashi of _all_ people - might be a danger. He begged to be told what he’d done. The officers didn’t respond to either plea. (He bet if he were Hero Hiro, they would have answered; the police had more respect for Big Hero 6 than some grieving kid.) When he’d looked up at Aunt Cass in desperation, she’d only shaken her head.

They’d gone home. Hiro was so hungry, but he couldn’t stomach the thought of food let alone eat. He’d cried the whole time in the truck and again into Baymax’s waiting arms when they got home. He slept with Aunt Cass that night, Mochi above their heads and Baymax watchful from the bottom of the bed.

They went back to the station early the next morning. All Aunt Cass was told was that Tadashi was getting another, more in depth, psyche evaluation today. Hiro suspected more was going on.

They waited. And waited, and waited.

Around three an officer finally came out, leading a handcuff-free Tadashi to them. He said they’d checked it out, that they believed Tadashi was a victim, and all he’d done he had done for self-preservation and self-defense.

There would be more, he explained. They weren’t done with Tadashi yet. They’d be in contact as the investigation went on, and made them - except Hiro, who knew _nothing_ because no one would tell him a _single_ thing, who was fourteen and couldn’t legally sign contracts in the first place - sign NDAs. They weren’t to talk to anyone about what went on without approval, especially to the media. The official story would be only a bone of the truth: that Tadashi had been kidnapped by a madman who faked his death, wasn’t connected to Callaghan’s crimes, and had kept him a prisoner for the last seven months until his accidental death.

Aunt Cass had fumed on the way home about those NDAs, raged that she should have contacted her lawyer first, but she didn’t want Tadashi there any longer than he had to be so they’d agreed. She promptly called her lawyer after raging, though, to represent Tadashi in the on-going investigation and especially if any officers got the bright idea to charge him down the line.

Charge with what, Hiro agonized not knowing. Unfortunately, Tadashi had no desire to talk about it and Aunt Cass chose to respect his wishes on whatever she knew.

It angered him. It confused him. It left him out in the dark and he had no idea what to do about that. It hurt, in a way he was perfectly aware was selfish. No one was trying to hurt him and Tadashi shouldn’t have had to relive what he went through again so soon. Nevertheless, it stung.

They bought fast food before arriving home. It sat untouched in the kitchen while Aunt Cass paced around the tiled floor with her lawyer on the phone and Tadashi collapsed on his bed upstairs. He was tired, he’d told Hiro, squeezing his hand in his when Hiro approached him in concern. Police stations don’t have very good beds, he’d joked with a half-hearted smile.

“I’m okay,” he reassured Hiro, his voice light for the first time since he got back. He actually seemed relieved. “I’m not going to jail, Hiro, no matter what Aunt Cass frets over. She’s just scared. Don’t worry about me.”

How could he not worry when his dead brother was alive, some sort of torture victim, and was almost charged with god knew what?

Hiro had needed to clear his head. He hated to leave, but he needed to be alone and think. He needed air to breathe.

Baymax had inquired after him on his way down the stairs to the café. Hiro ran back up to hug him, squeeze him tight. He told him to stick with Tadashi, watch over his health. Tadashi needed someone by his side, and Hiro needed to be alone for a little while.

“Can you be there for him for me, pal?” he’d pleaded. “I’ll only be gone a couple hours at the most. I promise not to be gone long.”

“Of course,” Baymax replied gently. “I will watch over Tadashi, for you and for him.”

He loved that robot so much.

Hiro found himself at the park not long after. It was a park he didn’t know well, hadn’t frequented as often as others as a kid, and there weren’t many kids in it. Hiro had taken one of the swings and been on it ever since.

At one point, he’d thought to check his phone. He discovered a legion of missed calls and frantic messages from the gang. They’d missed him at school, had tried to get in contact with Aunt Cass, had even shown up at the café numerous times only to find it empty and locked. They were flipping out.

A shot of guilt had shot through Hiro. He hadn’t meant to vanish on them like that.

And they deserved to know as much as he did.

He’d called Wasabi, his last missed caller, and told them where to find him. He had something big to tell them, something he couldn’t tell them on the phone. And that he was sorry for vanishing on them.

He’d felt numb waiting for them.

He saw Wasabi’s new car park across the park, waited as they poured out and scurried across the grass and woodchips, and huddled around him, talking over each other as they asked if he was okay, Aunt Cass was okay, where’s Baymax, was he hurt, what was going on?

So Hiro had told them.

Tadashi was alive and he was home.

“Are you sure, Hiro?” Honey Lemon held a skittish hand to her mouth. “It’s - it’s not an impersonator or something?”

His shoulders slacked. “They did a blood test at the hospital and compared it to Aunt Cass’ blood and old samples Tadashi had in his files. Plus, Baymax recognizes him.”

“That - That can’t be, though,” Wasabi argued in disbelief. “Didn’t the firefighters find his body?”

“It was a fake,” Hiro monotoned.

“How do you fake a dead body?” Gogo furrowed her brow.

Fred, however, nodded slowly. “Both of the so-called ‘deaths’ that night were fake outs, but they follow different tropes. Callaghan was a villain and Tadashi...I’m gonna need more information to tell you what Tadashi’s story is. An anti-hero’s, maybe?”

Gogo shot up like a rocket. “This isn’t funny, Fred! We’re not in one of your comic books! Don’t compare Tadashi’s death to _tropes!”_

“Hey, he was my best friend, too!” Fred snapped. “I’m not trying to minimize his death!”

Hiro stiffened. He’d never seen Fred get angry or snap before.

“Or, is my best friend,” Fred amended, settling down. “I’m just trying to process,” he flailed his hand, “this in whatever way I can. I didn’t know Callaghan that well, he just another professor in the labs. As shocked and hurt as I was with him…Tadashi’s my best friend. I lost him as much as you did. We _all_ went to his funeral.”

Gogo relaxed, remorse twisting her face. “Sorry. Didn’t mean it like that.”

“Well,” Hiro cut in, “it’s funny that you mention comic books and tropes, Fred, because Tadashi said the guy who kidnapped him was essentially a supervillain, only twenty times worse than anything we faced.”

The gang gawked at him.

“He was kidnapped?” Wasabi questioned.

“Wait, does he know about us?” Honey Lemon asked.

Hiro shook his head. “No, I don’t think he does. And yeah, he was kidnapped. This guy, Farinelli, had been stalking him for a while and was waiting for the chance to fake Tadashi’s death so he could kidnap him. The fire gave him that chance. He had to have tortured him, because Tadashi walks around like he’s - he’s haunted by something, and he said the guy made him something between an apprentice and slave. Baymax thinks he has PTSD from what he went through.”

His voice cracked as he spoke, and he screwed his eyes shut. His brother had been tortured _all that time._

He heard Honey Lemon gasp.

“My god,” Gogo breathed.

“That’s - That’s - ” Wasabi couldn’t finish the sentence.

Fred, however, paused a moment and asked quietly, “Are you doing okay, Hiro?”

Hiro snapped his eyes open. Him? Of course he was fine. It was Tadashi who wasn’t. Tadashi was the one who wasn’t okay. How was _he, Hiro,_ doing?

“I don’t know,” the words slipped out his mouth before he could stop them. He slid down the swing’s chains until his butt hit the seat, his feet flopping to the chips beneath him. His eyes were welling again. “They put him in _jail!_ We went to the police and they arrested Tadashi. They let him go today with no charges, but why would they do that? I don’t know anything! Where my brother’s been, why he was taken, what that Farinelli guy wanted, what he did to him, anything!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Gogo crouched to his level, planting a grounding hand on his shoulder. “Start at the beginning. Tell us what you _do_ know.”

So he did. He told them everything from coming home on time to finding Aunt Cass cradling Tadashi, to Baymax’s scan and the scant details on Farinelli. He told them about how haggard Tadashi looked, how he lost weight, how paranoid he’d sounded yesterday morning. He told them about the hospital, the police station, and finally being able to come home only to get overwhelmed and need his space. He told them that was when he discovered he’d missed all their calls and messages.

He was trembling by the end of it. “We should have saved him. I know, I know, how could we have known he was alive? But I feel horrible. While we were out saving the city in his memory, he was probably being beaten by this guy.”

“You don’t _know_ that he was being beaten,” Gogo asserted, gripping both his shoulders now.

Honey Lemon came around his back, splaying her fingers between his shoulder blades. “His physical came back okay. No bruises or broken bones, right? He only lost some weight and was in need of some vitamin D.”

“That only means he wasn’t beaten recently,” Hiro spat at the ground.

Wasabi came up next to Gogo at his side. “Your imagination is trying to fill in the blanks. Don’t let it scare you. You’re probably coming up with things that are worse than the reality.”

Hiro yanked the chains to his chest, swinging slightly. “What _is_ the reality!?”

“We don’t know either,” Fred murmured, stepping between Gogo and Honey Lemon on his other side. “It’s going to be okay, though, little dude. Farinelli’s dead, Tadashi’s been released, he has a mostly clean bill of health, and the healing process can start now. We’ll all get through this.”

Hiro wilted as they moved in to form a group hug around him. The chains were hardly barriers as their arms circled him, close and loving. He breathed in a hard, shaky breath and exhaled it.

“How do you feel?” Fred asked again as they stepped back. “Because I feel pretty messed up inside. Tadashi’s dead one second, next he’s not. I’d love to personally arrest this Farinelli if I could.”

He chuckled weakly. “Yeah, that’s about how I feel.”

“Me, too,” Honey Lemon added, her eyes downcast. “I can’t believe he’s been alive this whole time. I get what you mean feeling guilty, Hiro. I wish we’d known so we could have saved him.”

“Ditto,” Wasabi added solemnly. He curled his fingers into fists. “It’s not right what happened to him. Kind of feels like we just let it happen.”

“We didn’t.” Gogo rose. “We can’t let ourselves think like that. I feel horrible, too, and have to see him, but we can’t weigh ourselves down like that. Tadashi needs us.”

Hiro swallowed painfully. He wanted to be there for his brother.

Honey Lemon squeezed his shoulder.

“It’s not anyone’s fault, Hiro,” Wasabi reassured him. “Least of all yours.”

“Thanks,” he choked out, and sniffled. “It’s just hard.”

He rubbed a comforting hand over Hiro’s head and down the back of his neck. “We get it.”

They did. Hiro believed that.

Although he hadn’t met the gang until Tadashi dragged him to SFIT under the guise of going to a bot-fight, Tadashi spent three years dividing his time between school, Hiro, and his friends. There had been plenty of free nights and weekends where he slipped out the door with a, “I’m gonna go hang out with my friends, see ya! Love you, Aunt Cass!” while Hiro half listened from his bedroom work desk, the garage, or the couch, tinkering with something or other. In the summer weeks they had spent together as he worked on the microbots, Aunt Cass took a group photo of them and hung it on the bedroom staircase wall.

Hiro had heard numerous stories since Tadashi’s death.

How he and Fred swapped comics, had helped Fred out with his charity work on several occasions, and they liked to tease Gogo; how he and Gogo had a bunch of nerdy discussions on machinery and tech, he was the first to mend her ankle the day she sprained it while testing an old prototype of her bike, and she once had him chasing her all over campus to get his hat back when she’d stolen it just for a laugh; how he and Honey Lemon had babbled over manga together, she poked lighthearted fun at his old man get ups (but really, thought they were cozy on him), and he was her biggest supporter as she tested her concoctions; and how he and Wasabi were the only neat ones of the group, had listened to him gripe and grumble and proudly show off his latest breakthroughs, and geeked out over old sci-fi movies with each other.

And those were just the one on one stories. Hiro had heard so many of the gang’s wild, good times, all the had-to-be-there funny bits, and a few of the bad that proved just how close they were to one another in the end. Tadashi had been one of them.

They were devastated the night he died. Hiro didn’t remember too much after the explosion, if he even saw the others again that night, but he did see them after. They came by a lot in the week leading up to the funeral, accompanied them to the memorial at SFIT’s gates, and were shells of themselves during the wake, burial, and reception. They held up Aunt Cass where Hiro couldn’t, couldn’t at all.

They’d tried their best to reach out to him while giving him space. He was their friend as well now, but really, they were mostly doing it for Tadashi. Tadashi had been their best friend, and like how Aunt Cass was Tadashi’s aunt, Hiro was his little brother, and they weren’t going to let his family grieve alone. They’d done their best to keep in touch and check up on him, even as Hiro shut them out completely.

 _“Tadashi Hamada was our best friend,”_ Gogo had said the night they decided to become superheroes, her hand on Fred’s shoulder.

Big Hero 6 existed only because every member agreed to it, because they were all connected to Tadashi and wanted to bring justice to his death. They’d stuck with the hero gig for him as well, to help people like Tadashi had always wanted.

Hiro’s immersion into the gang had never replaced Tadashi to them, just like Baymax’s warm presence had never replaced Tadashi for him. He was a hole in everyone’s hearts. They’d missed him as much as he did. They had to feel as guilty as he did. Hiro believed it. They were _exactly_ aware of how hard this was.

“Thank you,” he murmured again, “I - I’m really glad to have you guys.”

Honey Lemon’s palm rested on his cheek. “We’re glad to have you, Hiro. Baymax and Tadashi, too.”

“We’ve gotta see him,” Wasabi said. “Is he all right with visitors?”

Hiro shrugged helplessly. “Dunno. Lemme call Aunt Cass.”

Although Tadashi had had his phone on him the night of the fire, Hiro hadn’t seen or heard a word about it. He was almost positive Farinelli had gotten rid of it, because surely Tadashi would have used it to call home or the police if he’d been able to keep it.

He slid his phone out of his pocket and called Aunt Cass. She had to have hung up with her lawyer by now.

“Hello?” she soon answered. “Hiro? Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he toed at the woodchips with his sneaker. “I’m with the others. I told them about Tadashi. They wanna see him.”

“Ah,” she said, and he could picture her nodding. “Absolutely, I think that’s a good idea. Let me go ask Tadashi how he feels first, okay? I’m not sure he’s ready for visitors, but if he is, absolutely bring them by. ...How are they taking the news?”

“Okay, I guess.”

“All right. Give them a big hug for me, Hiro, while I go ask Tadashi.”

Hiro lowered his phone. “Aunt Cass wants me to give you guys a big hug. If Tadashi’s up to it, you can come over.”

“Is he?” Gogo questioned.

“She’s asking him.”

Hiro placed the phone back to his ear and waited.

What must have been a full minute later, Aunt Cass’ breathless voice said, “Yes, but not right now. In a few hours. Bring them by for dinner! Tadashi’s all right, baby, but it’s just hit him he’s home for good and he’s having a bit of a breakdown. Baymax and I are taking care of him, don’t worry; he needs his space is all. You go hang out for a little while, and when you come home he’ll be ready to see them.”

Hiro pressed his lips in a thin line. His voice hitched as he offered, “I can come home by myself now.”

The others exchanged scared glances.

Aunt Cass hesitated. “...I won’t say you can’t. I’ll only say I’d rather you go to Fred’s house and try to relax some. I don’t want to overwhelm your brother with too many people in the room.”

It was as if someone punched him in the gut with a steel glove. “He doesn’t want me there?”

“Oh, Hiro!” Aunt Cass whined, and he could imagine her putting her fist over her heart. “It’s not that. He never said that. He’s hysterical, honey. Baymax is holding him and he’s crying in his shoulder. He’s not in a place to have people crowding him, and I’m worried about both of you. You’ve had a tough few days, and I’d rather you and your friends take this time to relax and cheer each other up. Like I said, Tadashi’s all right and he wants to see all of you later. Please, Hiro, just go to Fred’s house. I’ll call you when everything’s better. I love you!”

“Love you, too. Bye,” Hiro mumbled. He pressed his thumb to the red button before she could respond or end the call herself.

“Well?” Gogo stepped forward, the light in her eyes shaking.

His chest tightened. “Tadashi’s having a breakdown because he’s home for good. Why would that give him a breakdown?”

He was fine earlier. He said he was tired. He’d seemed _relieved._ It made no sense to Hiro for him to have a breakdown.

“Well, he’s been a prisoner for seven months,” Fred guessed. He waved his hands out flat. “He must have had a prisoner mentality. Can’t imagine jail helped. Don’t think of it as a bad thing, my man, he’s probably overwhelmed and happy that he’s free.”

Hiro glared. “People don’t use the word ‘breakdown’ when they mean ‘happy’!”

“That’s not what Fred means,” Wasabi intervened. “He’s not a prisoner anymore. He’s no one’s apprentice, no one’s slave. He can be himself again, not whoever Farinelli made him be. He’s dealing with a lot right now, more than we can possibly imagine; that realization - that he’s home, he’s free, and Farinelli can’t kidnap him again or hurt him anymore - has to break some sort of dam inside him.”

“Wasabi’s right,” Gogo agreed. “He’ll be okay. He has your aunt and Baymax.”

“But why can’t I be there!?” Hiro demanded. “He’s my big brother! He’s always been there for me when I cried, why would Aunt Cass tell me _I’d_ be crowding him!?”

Honey Lemon bent to her knees, grimacing at the woodchips poking through her leggings. “Think of it like a panic attack. The number one thing the panicker doesn’t want is too many people close to them. Two might be all Tadashi can handle at the moment.”

Hiro opened his mouth to argue more. He could be one of those two people. Aunt Cass could take a break, or Baymax shut down for a bit.

The argument died in his head before it could reach his mouth. He closed it, his shoulders sagging.

No. Aunt Cass was like a mom to them and Baymax had downloaded a plethora of data on emotional issues. Tadashi needed them more than he needed him.

It was a stab to the heart, though.

How could he help his brother when he couldn’t even be there for him, wasn’t needed or wanted?

Gogo was thumbing away a tear off his cheek, he suddenly realized.

She smiled smally at him.

“It’ll be okay,” she told him gently. “They love you. We love you. We’ll take you home when Tadashi’s better.”

Hiro sucked in his cheeks, fighting back the tears. “Aunt - Aunt Cass said you can stop by at dinner. Tadashi’ll - ‘ll see you then. She said to go to Fred’s house in the meantime.”

“Good idea,” Fred said. “We can watch movies or play video games. Heathcliff will dig out the tissues.”

“I’ll drive us,” Wasabi motioned to his car.

Gogo helped Hiro up off the swing, and Fred took Honey Lemon’s place supporting his back. They walked somberly across the park and loaded into Wasabi’s car, Honey Lemon in the passenger’s seat while Fred, Gogo, and Hiro sat in the back. Wasabi started the engine and wheeled them down the street.

The first few minutes were a quiet ride. No one spoke. Gogo held onto Hiro’s shoulders from the middle seat, Fred smiling assuredly over her head.

Honey Lemon was the one who broke first. Wasabi stopped at a red light and she burst into tears. Her face fell into her hands as she hiccuped.

Fred went next, only seconds after, sniffling and whining as Wasabi drove ahead, the waterworks running down his face.

Gogo lost it third. She clutched Hiro to her as she tucked her chin to her neck, face tightening into itself as it turned red and wet.

Wasabi had to abruptly park the car at the side of the street, laying his forehead on the steering wheel, his shoulders trembling.

Hiro closed his eyes into Gogo's jack. At least he wasn’t the only one.

* * *

Fred’s house, in all it’s bright gold and red glory and with his out-of-this-world bedroom, felt lifeless and cold as the clock dragged on. Or that might have just been Hiro. The others didn’t look any better than he felt, however, hardly playing attention to the movies that played on Fred’s flat-screen.

They were all huddled up on the couch, stiff and unmoving.

Honey Lemon had her long legs pulled up to her chin, her fox-themed phone held loosely in her hand. Every now and then she glanced at it, as if expecting a text or call, even thought it was Hiro Aunt Cass would eventually reach out to. Then again, he suspected, perhaps it wasn’t Aunt Cass she was waiting for.

Wasabi stared absently at the screen, his jaw set and brow furrowed. Hiro couldn’t tell whether he was angry, trying to put on a brave face to conceal his emotions, or was struggling not to crack open. His palms rested on his knees, occasionally grabbing them tight and wrinkling his pants. Once in a while, he released a shuddery breath everyone ignored.

Fred and Gogo sat shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg. Fred’s expression was absolutely blank, eyes following the screen. His mouth was pressed a long, simple frown. Hiro couldn’t guess what he was thinking, but he had a hunch it wasn’t about the movie. One of arms had snuck behind Gogo’s back, his fingers lightly brushing her other side. Gogo, meanwhile, lay her head against his shoulder, mouth hard and resolute but her eyes shining and worried.

Hiro himself was in the middle of them, between Gogo and Wasabi. His sneakers were planted on the ground, phone in his lap, and hands uselessly lying on his thighs. He barely watched the movie, keeping his eyes trained on the wooden wall beneath the screen. His head swam. He wanted Tadashi to hug him, to tell him everything and drain all the bad feelings out of the both of them. He wanted Aunt Cass to hold him, shush all his fears and concerns away. He wanted Baymax to wrap himself around him, comforting his heart and relaxing his muscles. Yet if anybody tried to touch him right now, including the gang, he thought he might explode.

Aunt Cass ended up calling a little after seven. Tadashi had recovered and, she told Hiro in the chirpiest voice she could muster, was helping her set the table for dinner by bringing up one of the café tables and chairs for the gang, who he was super eager to see. She was making noodles and rice for everybody, so she hoped they were hungry.

No one really was, but that didn’t matter.

The bubble of anxiety building up in Hiro that point popped at her call.

“We can go home now,” he let the rest of the gang, who watched him on the phone with bated breath, know.

They piled into Wasabi’s car silently. The sun was going down and the night sky rising. The car ride was somehow just as cold, lifeless, and slow on the way to The Lucky Cat, yet to Hiro they also got there in an instant.

Now the gang stood outside the side door of the house, Wasabi’s car parked in front of the café.

“Ready, little man?” Wasabi asked, peering down at him.

“Yeah,” Hiro answered with a short nod. “I am.”

He had to see his brother. They all had to see Tadashi.

He opened the side door.

To his surprise, Baymax burst into his view, standing at the side of the stairs. He raised his vinyl hand in his signature wave. “Hello.”

Without thinking, Hiro shot over the threshold and raced into his belly. Baymax hugged him.

“Your neurotransmitters indicate you are happy,” he stated, in a tone that resembled joy.

“I am, buddy. I’m happy to see you,” Hiro replied, stepping back a pace but keeping his arms around him.

He hadn’t expected anyone to be waiting for them down here. And to his further surprise, he was actually glad it was Baymax who had. As much as he needed to see Tadashi, his nerves were still strung high, and as much as Aunt Cass could bring them down, she (was the one who told him to stay away, and) couldn’t always calm him down the way Baymax could. He always knew what Hiro really needed at the moment, even if Hiro himself didn’t.

The rest of the gang filed inside.

“How’s Tadashi’s been?” Gogo inquired softly.

Fred bit his lip. “He doing okay?”

Hiro glanced between them and Baymax. He took a deep breath. Right. Despite his feelings, the others were here, and the fact was he had told Baymax to stay with his brother - his brother, who’d just had a breakdown according to Aunt Cass. “Why aren’t you with him?”

“Tadashi’s neurotransmitters have increased in the time you were away,” Baymax informed. “His stress levels are down. When he told me to greet you at the door, I did not assess it would be better for his emotional well-being to stay with him.”

“He wanted you to greet us?” Hiro perked up at that.

“Yes. He said I may be of assistance in your current emotional states.” Baymax lifted his head to scan the group one by one. “You have all been: crying - recently.”

Honey Lemon touched her throat. “We heard about what happened to Tadashi, Baymax. His - his kidnapping. And arrest.”

“The truth of Tadashi’s whereabouts and the consequences of his return have been difficult for everyone.” Baymax extended his arms. “Would you each like a hug?” 

The gang smiled or half-smiled at his offer, and quickly jumped in for a hug one by one. Gogo got in first, squeezing Baymax tight around the middle as he patted her back. Wasabi went next, giving Baymax a bearhug. Honey Lemon hugged him close, lifting her ankle up, and Fred practically melted into the hug, sighing into Baymax’s chest. They all only reluctantly let go.

Hiro couldn’t help smiling at his compassion. His nerves relaxed a little.

“Tadashi is helping Aunt Cass set the table,” Baymax stated. “He displayed signs of anxiety and relief at the prospect of meeting you all again. It will be beneficial for him to be surrounded by family and friends; however, I would like to ascertain that you are emotionally prepared to meet him. It is okay if you cry or have mixed feelings. It is natural in a case such as this. But if you have any reservations and would rather remain down here and talk them out, I will listen.”

Hiro had half a mind to do that. He understood what the others had said earlier about his breakdown being like a panic attack, yet it hurt all the same. He wanted to talk about that, he did, and with someone else who wasn’t going to be hurt by it - he had no desire to make Aunt Cass think he was angry with _her,_ because he wasn’t, and he refused to put anything on Tadashi so soon or in his state. At the very least, Baymax would let him vent before parroting the gang’s words.

Later, though. He wouldn’t keep the gang waiting. He had actually seen, spoken to, and been with Tadashi the past two days. The others hadn’t. Not to mention, he wanted to make sure with his own eyes Tadashi was okay now.

When the others shook their heads or didn’t say a word, he patted Baymax’s side. “Come on, buddy, let’s go upstairs.”

It was blue-dark outside the kitchen windows by the time they got upstairs. All the lights were on, bright and cheerful. A café table had been pushed against the kitchen table, two extra chairs at it while two more were at the café table. Plates of small batches of steaming noodles and rice sat before each seat, and Aunt Cass and Tadashi were just finishing up laying out the silverware.

Aunt Cass lifted her head and smiled at the group. She looked tired underneath it all, but there was nothing forced about her reaction.

Tadashi was still wearing the same outfit he had put on yesterday, the one he had come home from the police station in. His hat was removed, however, sitting next to the plate the farthest back at the wall. The bags under his eyes were as heavy as the other night, but there were no tears marks streaking his face. He must have washed up.

He smiled serenely at the gang, moving around the table to the edge of the kitchen. His lips trembled. He swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing, and Hiro almost hated how once again his eyes watered. Luckily, the tears didn’t fall, and he blinked them back.

“Hi, guys,” he rubbed his hands together as if scrubbing them. “It’s - it’s been a while.”

Hiro pressed close to Baymax, turning to gage the gang’s reaction.

Their eyes were wide and mouth hanging open at various degrees, from Gogo’s slightly to Wasabi’s gaping.

“Tadashi,” Honey Lemon broke the silence with an astonished whisper.

“You’re back!” Fred exclaimed, and like that, the damn burst loose.

They four of them ran, and Tadashi only had time to stumble back half a second before he was engulfed in five-way hug. Someone sobbed, someone else whined low, and they were all shaking.

Aunt Cass came over to Hiro’s side. She placed a hand on his back while Baymax patted his head.

“It’s good that they’re here,” she remarked lowly, her cheeriness fading into something sad in her smile. “I think all five of them needed this.”

Hiro raised his chin. It was hard to be uncomfortable with her and Baymax’s steadying hands on him. Nevertheless, it was just as hard to watch Honey Lemon rock herself against Tadashi, Gogo bury her head in his chest, Wasabi press his forehead into his temple, and Fred hang limply off his shoulders. Tadashi himself appeared somewhere between content and suffering in pain, doing his best to hug them all at once.

“It will be okay,” Baymax said, as if reading his thoughts. “Their reactions stem from places of grief, resignation, and happiness. They are fine, including Tadashi.”

Aunt Cass breathed a sigh of relief Hiro agreed with.

“Are you all right, Hiro?” the two of them asked at the same time.

Hiro couldn’t fight the half smile he made as they looked at each other, Aunt Cass surprised and Baymax merely blinking.

And to his own shock, the answer was...yeah, he felt fine, too. It was as if the sight of their friends holding onto Tadashi and Tadashi holding onto them reaffirmed that he was home and okay, and that calmed his nerves in another surprising turn of events. He was okay.

“I am,” he murmured.

Aunt Cass wrapped her arm over his shoulders. “Good.”

Baymax stroked his hair. “Yes.”

Hiro allowed himself to sink into their touch.

Yes, he was okay and that was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, I'm a bit iffy on the NDA part when I reread this, but Tadashi's not kidding when he says Farinelli was up to stuff the government is going to want to keep under wraps so the public doesn't find out and freak out.
> 
> Hiro interprets Tadashi's breakdown as a bad thing, but while it's not necessarily a "good" thing either, he's just processing the fact that he truly is home and safe now for good. Sometimes things take a while to hit and sink in, and that information finally hitting and sinking in makes Tadashi very emotional.
> 
> Writing the gang's reaction was a bit of a challenge because I have four separate people to handle at once and I don't want to bog the fic down with *too* much crying (especially since we aren't done with the crying yet - but we will be taking a break from it after the next chapter). This chapter is filled with hugs and I hope that felt natural; I don't want it to get too repetitive, especially since we aren't done with that either.
> 
> In the next chapter we'll finally hear Tadashi talk about what happened to him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little shorter than the previous two chapters, but by the end there wasn't much more I could add. I only wanted this chapter to cover Tadashi's story, and even then he's not telling the full story to the gang.
> 
> By the way, I've been looking at my additional tags and wondering if I should update them with more warnings. I'm on the fence because the worst things are already in the past and I don't think my descriptions are that graphic, but for this chapter I'm adding implied/referenced abuse just for safety. If anything comes up in this fic that you think I should tag for, please let me know!

Tadashi took the head of the conjoined table by the wall, Aunt Cass on his right by the island counter, Hiro on his left next to the living room. Bymax stood cramped between Aunt Cass and Tadashi in the corner. Honey Lemon and Fred were next to Aunt Cass and Hiro respectively, Gogo and Wasabi next to them. They picked and prodded at their food, but Tadashi only stared down at his.

“So,” he started wearily, “I know you guys have a lot of questions.”

Hiro’s heart lurched to his throat. So this was when they were getting their answers then.

Aunt Cass reached out to touch Tadashi’s bicep in support.

He smiled over to her in thanks, and she reluctantly let it drop.

“You don’t have to,” Honey Lemon objected. “If you aren’t comfortable…”

“I am,” Tadashi forced out. He took a deep breath and repeated calmly, “I am. You guys deserve to know what happened. I won’t tell you all of it - and after tonight, please don’t ask me about anything I _didn’t_ tell you - but you should hear the basic story.”

“What about those NDAs the police had you and your aunt sign?” Wasabi asked.

“Fuck them, you’re my friends and family.” Tadashi suddenly lifted his gaze and blinked, as if surprised with himself that he said that.

Hiro was certainly put off. He almost never heard Tadashi swear.

“Besides, you won’t tell anyone,” he amended. “I can trust you guys.”

Gogo held her fingers out in the middle of the table. “We’re here for you, Tadashi.”

He nodded lightly and bit his lip. The haunted look returned to his eyes and Hiro’s stomach dropped at the sight.

He hated that look, he was discovering. Tadashi wasn’t himself with those eyes.

“The man who kidnapped me was named Farinelli. You’ll hear about him in the news,” he began like it was off a script. The rest, however, was unpracticed. “He had been stalking me for close to a year before the fire. I never knew he was. I didn’t know anyone was following or watching me. He was...was impressed by what I was doing. That I was a genius, that I was majoring in robotics, that I was currently studying medicine and building Baymax.”

Pins and needles ran up Hiro’s spine. “Baymax?”

Tadashi nodded. “Farinelli was a genius like us. He became a doctor when he was younger, but in his later years switched from the hospital scene to the research labs to further study and develop medicine.”

“A doctor kidnapped you?” Honey Lemon was floored. She seemed like she had more to say, but the words strangled in her throat until she gave up and closed her mouth.

“He did,” Tadashi confirmed. His eyes cleared some. “I don’t know what motivated him to change. He didn’t give me a full backstory with all his thoughts. He told me stuff when it was relevant to the conversation and I pieced together what I could from there. One year he was a doctor, the next he was a researcher, and then all of a sudden he’s a supervillain. I can’t tell you why or how.”

“What do you mean ‘supervillain’?” Fred leaned forward in grim interest. “Hiro said you said he was - twenty times worse than what Big Hero 6 fights. How?”

Tadashi’s face morphed as he struggled internally, his body flinching. His eyes clouded back up. “A supervillain as in ripped straight from one of your darkest comic books, Fred. He wanted to take over the world. He had plans and I was supposed to help him. He couldn’t do it on his own, and he wasn’t a roboticist, so he needed help.”

Silence.

Hiro had to put down his fork. His fingers were trembling.

_‘We should have helped him. We should have saved him.’_

_‘How could we have known?’_

_‘What could we have done to find out?’_

_‘Why didn’t we?’_

_‘We’re failures of heroes.’_

He didn’t like his thoughts.

Tadashi ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t speak for a moment, then dug his nails deep into his scalp and screwed his eyes shut at the memories.

Baymax had to gently remove his hand from his head.

“You will break the skin,” he explained. “Please do not hurt yourself. Self-harm is not a safe way to cope with your emotions.”

“I had to help him,” Tadashi choked out, either ignoring Baymax or too lost in his memories to hear him. He didn’t wrest his hand from Baymax, if he even noticed he had it. “I didn’t want to! I swear I didn’t! I tried not to, I tried to run, I tried to finagle the programming - !”

“Tadashi!” Aunt Cass grabbed his hand from Baymax, squeezing it tight between hers.

His eyes popped open. He stared at her as though she were newly there, had appeared out of thin air.

She squeezed his hand harder. “You’re safe, baby. No one’s angry with you.”

Tadashi held her gaze in disbelief. When he calmed, his muscles relaxing, and pulled away, she hesitantly let him go.

Hiro swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

“Start at the beginning, man,” Wasabi advised quietly. “We know you didn’t do anything wrong. Or o-of your own free will. We believe you.”

Tadashi mewled. “Thank you.”

Gogo shot a tense glance at the table.

Tadashi took another deep breath.

“Like I said,” he restarted, “he needed help. Farinelli was impressed with my brain and my work. I’m a robotics genius and I also happened to be studying medicine and medical procedures for my biggest project. That’s why he wanted me. That’s why he started stalking me, to make sure I was the one he needed. When he was sure I was the one, he started planning how to take me. He made a body double for me. I - I don’t know the specifics of how he made it, but I know - know - it was real. Real enough to fool anyone into thinking I was dead. A-All he had to do was fake my death. It didn’t matter _how_ \- I could be hit by a car or throw myself off the Golden Gate Bridge for all he cared - it just needed to be believable and give him the opportunity to swap me out for the double.”

“My god,” Gogo whispered, aghast.

Honey Lemon made a high pitched noise in her throat.

Wasabi paled.

Fred was stiff as a board.

Hiro’s stomach broiled and hissed. He was getting nauseas.

Baymax must have detected it, because he scooted behind Tadashi, pushing his chair in somewhat, and lay a cool hand on the back of Hiro’s neck.

“There,” he soothed, “it is all right.”

Hiro jolted from the cold. His stomach settled a tad, though, so he didn’t fight it. Rather, he leaned back onto Baymax’s palm, welcoming the cold.

Tadashi watched him carefully. “...Do you want to leave, Hiro? You don’t have to hear this. None of you do i-if you don’t want to.”

“No!” he refused quickly. “No. I have to hear this.”

He had to know what happened to him. What he’d gone through.

Tadashi stared at him for a beat, thoughtful.

Then he pressed on.

“Callaghan gave him the chance he needed with the fire. Callaghan wasn’t in on it - as far as he was concerned, I died that night thanks to a stupid decision on my part - but I didn’t make things any better by running inside after him.” He gave a long sigh, closing his eyes. “I don’t regret it. I’d still try to save his life today. B-But...Farinelli followed me in. He hit me in the neck with a dart from a distance. I don’t know how we survived the explosion, but with how paranoid and overly prepared he was, I bet he had something on him that shielded us or got us out in time.”

He opened his eyes, gazing down at his cooling food sadly.

“The dart knocked me out. I don’t remember the explosion, or what came after. I only remember waking up strapped to a bed in a little room. There was a closet, a door to a bathroom, and a tiny table with a computer on it. An IV was in my arm to keep me hydrated. I struggled, but I couldn’t get free. He left me there alone, for hours. Probably a whole day.”

“You must have been so scared,” someone whimpered.

Hiro didn’t realize it was him until the sentence rung back in his ears, in his own voice.

_You must have been so scared, alone and tied to a bed in a strange place._

_‘We should have saved you. We should have saved you!’_

“I was,” Tadashi said. “I really was. When Farinelli finally came in, he gave me a virtual tour of his place on a tablet. We were underground on an island far from the coast. It was a tiny one, not on most maps he said. He told me I could try to run. I could try to hide. I could try to hack my way out. I’d fail every time, but he’d allow me to get it out of my system. But when the real work began, there’d be serious punishment if I still had it in me to think I could leave him.”

Gogo jammed the end of her fork into the table, clutching the handle so tight her skin was nearly white.

Tadashi put on a tiny, appreciative smile. “He’s dead now. You don’t have to - have to feel defensive over me,” he breathed.

Everyone looked up at him oddly.

Of course they were defensive, Hiro reasoned. It didn’t matter if he was dead. Farinelli had kidnapped Tadashi and hurt him. He hurt him. He _threatened_ to hurt him.

“He let me out after he left,” Tadashi continued as if no one had reacted to his statement. “The straps came off automatically. I ripped the IV out and tried to follow a path I saw on the map. It got me nowhere because the doors were locked. I tried to hack them, first by breaking in the hatch in the wall, then through the computer in my room. Nothing. I tried everything I could think of, every possible angle. I searched every nook and cranny, absorbing every detail of the place I could. I went through every possible channel and got through every block online that I could. Nothing. I did more, I did _more,_ but no matter what I did, I couldn’t find a way out, couldn’t contact anybody.”

Wasabi shook his head in a daze. “Tadashi, man…”

“When I finally went searching for him,” he went on, “I found him holding a newspaper and watching a monitor. He was watching a news broadcast of the fire. I watched it with him, heard them declare me dead and talk about how my body had been the first to be found. No word on Callaghan’s yet. He wordlessly handed me the newspaper. My obituary was in there.”

Baymax’s hand was too cold. The cold ran all the way down to Hiro’s toes.

Again, Baymax moved without being told, taking his hand away.

Tadashi covered his eyes, shaking. Aunt Cass once more reached out for him, to touch his ear.

“I felt like I died then and there,” his voice trembled. “The world thought I was dead. I couldn’t get out. My new plan of forcing Farinelli to somehow _let_ me out crumbled. Something in me died. I fell on my knees and I cried. I could only think about you guys, and what you were going through with my fake death, and how I’d never graduate from SFIT, and my life was over now.”

“Stop,” Fred pleaded. “I - I need a second.”

He wiped his face vigorously with his sleeve.

Hiro couldn’t blame him. Farinelli had played a cruel psychological game with his brother’s head. Leaving him alone tied up in a strange room for a whole day. Allowing him to explore endless escape routes that would never work. Showing him without a word how gone the world considered him. No wonder his brother thought his life was over. As far as anyone, on that island or off, was concerned, Tadashi was no one anymore. And he was thoroughly tapped.

“Okay,” Fred hiccupped, lowering his sleeve. “You can go on, dude.”

“That doesn’t mean I gave up,” Tadashi explained. “I went against his advice and kept trying to escape. There _had_ to be a way out. Nothing could be that airtight. I couldn’t let myself get bogged down. There _HAD_ to be a way. It was probably a little after Christmas that I finally gave up. Partially out...out of giving up, partially out of exhaustion from trying and failing, and partially out of the wa-ways he caught me and had me punished.”

Honey Lemon’s voice was barely a murmur, “How did he punish you?”

He rolled his shoulders and whirled his head around, blinking rapidly. “You don’t want to know. S-Sometimes it was okay. He locked me in my room. He starved me for a day, only letting me have water. Sometimes the bots threatened me. I was never seriously injured, that’s all I’ll say. I was too valuable to him.”

Hiro was nauseas all over again.

“Bots?” Wasabi piped up.

“I told you, he needed a roboticist,” Tadashi threw his head back so he wouldn’t have to look at them. “His plans to take over the world. He had explosives. He had bots. He had - had - “ he fought with what he wanted to say, “...biological weapons. The bots were essentially going to be his army. I helped build them.”

“That is something out of my comics,” Fred remarked in discomfort.

Fred was the one who had called Yokai ‘cool’ when he chased them across San Fransokyo’s downtown. Scary, he’d admitted, but cool. He’d been excited about a real life supervillain. He’d been excited to face off against all their other villains. There was no excitement here.

Hiro knew why.

This was too close to home for comfort. Fred hadn’t been the least bit excited to find out Yokai had been Callaghan, and this was even worse. This one hurt Tadashi and forced him to help with what would have hurt other people. Killed countless people.

He had scarred Tadashi, mentally if not physically.

Hiro’s throat dried. He yanked up his cup of sweet tea Aunt Cass had served earlier for a long drink.

“Helping him was the last thing I wanted to do,” Tadashi told them lifelessly, bowing his head. “I did my best to sabotage him. I wouldn’t work on something right, or I’d go so slow, or I’d program something else instead of what he intended. A couple times I attempted to reprogram them to help me escape. None of it worked. He found out and I got punished.”

Hiro wanted to beg him to stop using that word.

Punishments were scoldings from Aunt Cass. They were when she grabbed their ears. They were groundings and forced cleanings and being made to help out in the café. They were having their toolboxes taken away for the weekend because a second emergency room trip in one week was not acceptable and she didn’t trust them anymore. They weren’t supposed to be harmful. What he was and wasn’t describing.

“I think Farinelli was fond of me,” Tadashi mused next, “when I wasn’t being a thorn in his side, and he wasn’t ignoring me or acting like my very existence was a nuisance. He thought I was clever. He taught me some things that I didn’t need, but he was very proud to show off. There were days when he talked to me like I was his son or grandson. Sometimes he rewarded me by sending me a feed of - o-of you guys, so I could see that you were okay. He didn’t have to do that.”

Hiro and the gang went very still.

If Farinelli had had video feeds of them, and he kept an eye on Big Hero 6, had he known about their identities?

If he had, he must not have informed Tadashi, because he made no mention of it.

“Farinelli was paranoid. He kept tabs of the whole city. The police department, Big Hero 6, you guys. ...The café. He liked to mock me, especially while you guys were mourning. But mostly, he had to make sure no one was onto him and that he could get the stuff that he wanted. He’d get violent and rage when he suspected he couldn’t, or someone might figure him out.”

“He didn’t take that violence out on you, did he?” Honey Lemon blurted out fast.

Silence reigned for a moment.

Tadashi gave her a quivering smile. “No.”

Hiro couldn’t bear to face whether that was a lie or not.

Tadashi was willing to leave parts of the story out and not go into detail on others. As much as he was giving away, who was to say he couldn’t lie here and there to make them feel better?

(What if Farinelli _had_ beat out all his frustrations on him?)

Whatever the case, Hiro wasn’t going to analyze it this second. He couldn’t.

Honey Lemon paled as she accepted his response, sitting back in her chair.

Tadashi picked up his fork and poked at his noodles and rice absently. “Big Hero 6 got on his nerves. He thought they were...idiots for what they tried to do. He lessened up on them after the Fujitas and Bonsai Bombers appeared, but then he complained about what the world was coming to. As if he weren’t some wannabe overlord. Still, he didn’t think they could beat him. Not yet, anyway. They were too weak. He worried, though.”

He stopped there, his fork freezing mid-twist in his noodles.

No more words came out of his mouth.

“...Tadashi?” Hiro hated how his voice cracked. “Big brother?”

Tadashi’s head snapped up.

“They wouldn’t have, ever,” he asserted strongly. “Never! Farinelli was paranoid. Nothing could get in his way and he wouldn’t let it. He had twelve backup plans for everything. He delved into things you don’t want to know and I have no doubt the government is seizing as we speak to lock away forever. Big Hero 6 would have died against him, along with everyone else.”

Cars whooshed by on the road outside the window.

Hiro’s legs shook under the table.

_‘You’re wrong. We could have. We should have.’_

_‘What did he do to you, big brother?’_

Tadashi wilted in his chair, melting into the back.

“In the end,” he muttered, not looking any of them in the eye, “it didn’t matter. He blew himself up with an explosive gone wrong. I was in the other room working on the bots. I heard it and went to check on him. He was gone.”

Fred was on the verge of tears again. “How did you get out?”

“I unlocked the door,” Tadashi answered simply, raising his eyes. “Farinelli had the controls in his monitor room. With him gone, there was no one there to stop me from pressing the button. He only let me in that lab when he was there, and he could easily order a bot to restrain or - or punish me if I tried to leap for it. He was gone, so no orders. I took the boat he had docked to get back to the mainland when he needed to go there. The police have probably taken it by now.”

He grazed his rice with his fork.

“I walked home from the docks. It was hard to think. I was in shock f-for a while, I guess. When I got to The Lucky Cat Café, I kind of paused and stood there for a while. A lot of things ran through my mind. And nothing. Mostly nothing. The other stuff ran a mile a minute, and then nothing. I had to force myself to work up the courage to go inside.”

“What did you think of?” Gogo asked softly.

“I was home,” he replied dully. “Aunt Cass. Would she believe me? Any of you? Farinelli. What I did. If I was getting arrested. What I’d do if no one believed me. The body you found as proof against me. Stuff like that. Then nothing.”

Wasabi shook his head wildly and rose to his feet. “I can’t believe this. How could someone do that!? How could he just _die_ in the end!? _He_ should have gone to jail, not you, man, and never be released!”

Tadashi shuddered, wide-eyed. “I - I don’t know.”

Wasabi bit his lip and sat down. “It’s not fair. He should have been brought to trial.”

He lowered his chin, meager. “Yeah.”

Silence took hold yet again.

Hiro couldn’t take it anymore. That couldn’t be it, the end of the story, all he was willing to tell. “Why did the police arrest you? Why did they say they didn’t know if you were a danger or not? What did Farinelli do to make them think _that!?_ You did nothing wrong!”

Tadashi reluctantly looked at him. His face hardened into something unreadable. “He did horrible things, things I never want you to find out, Hiro. Any of you. Since I was with him, I was an accomplice. That was why they arrested me.”

“But you were a victim!”

“That’s why they let me go.”

“But _why!?_ What did he do!? What did he make you do!? What happened to you, Tadashi, please - !”

Baymax gripped his shoulders. “Hiro.”

Hiro stopped.

Tadashi was trembling violently now. His face pleaded with him silently.

_Stop. Please don’t ask me these things._

Hiro deflated.

Baymax moved to Tadashi to help Aunt Cass, who had gotten up and was holding his arm and whispering in his ear, to calm him down.

Hiro whirled his head around to the others for help.

Everyone’s looked at him in sympathy.

Fred reached over to grip his hand tight, an attempt to comfort.

Hiro had never felt so lost.

“I want,” Tadashi gasped out suddenly, “I want to put this behind me. I want my life to go back to normal. I want to go back to college w-when I can, in the fall if I can’t now, and I want to help the world. I want to h-hang out with my friends again, be there for my little brother and tease him, help out Aunt Cass, get Baymax into the medical field. I don’t want to be like this anymore.”

He rubbed furiously at his eyes to halt the tears before they could fall.

“I want help!” he cried. “I want to forget and move on! I - I can’t do this! Please, I - I need - to - !”

Hiro sunk in his chair. He hadn’t meant for this. He didn’t want to be the cause of his brother’s pain. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Tadashi!”

Gogo bent over the table to put her hand over Fred’s on top of his. “It’s not your fault, Hiro.”

“No,” Tadashi agreed behind his hands. “I get why you’re asking, Hiro, I know this _hurts._ I was gonna - I knew was I gonna - do this - cry - anyway! But there are - are some things that I can’t - even if I wanted to, I can’t - I can’t - ”

Baymax molded his body over Tadashi in a hug.

“There, there. This is understandable. You do not have to speak on what you do not wish to.” He peered up at Aunt Cass. “I recommend: therapy, for Tadashi. Confiding in loved ones can massively help one’s mental state, but there are some cases where professional help is necessary.”

“Absolutely,” she breathed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

The rest of the night went by considerably quieter. Tadashi excused himself from the room, though he begged the gang not to leave the house yet. Baymax followed him upstairs to cry it out. Their dinners were cold by then, and it was only Aunt Cass’ sharp glance - “You’ve barely eaten in two days, Hiro,” she’d added - that got them all to eat at least half their plates.

Hiro helped Aunt Cass with the dishes while the gang huddled in the living room to wait for Tadashi.

“You did nothing wrong,” she assured him confidently at the sink. “Your brother’s in a fragile place. We’ll work it out, sweetheart. Things will go back to normal.”

He hoped so.

He couldn’t believe he made his brother cry. He didn’t think he’d ever made Tadashi cry. Even if he was going to anyway telling the story, Hiro hated the fact he’d been the one to finally push him over the edge.

Tadashi came back down with Baymax a little under an hour after he left. The dishes were just finished up by then, and Hiro lingered by Aunt Cass as he watched from behind the counter. Tadashi went straight to the gang, hugged each of them one by one, and said things he couldn’t hear. Everyone nodded, hugging him back and speaking just as low.

It was getting late. Close to ten. The gang had homework, projects, and obligations to fulfill for tomorrow - it was Saturday, tomorrow was Sunday; Hiro was baffled that he’d lost track of the days so much that the gang looked at him funny when he asked about their classes tomorrow - so it wasn’t long before they went home.

Aunt Cass took some aspirin and declared she was going to bed, but the boys could wake her up any time if they needed her. Mochi, who seemed to pop out of nowhere (he was sleeping in one of the cupboards; Aunt Cass just about had a heart attack when he pushed one of the bottom doors open and leaped to the floor, shrieking his name half in anger), followed her happily.

That left Hiro, Tadashi, and Baymax alone in the apartment.

“I’m sorry - ” Hiro tried to apologize again.

Tadashi cut him off by grabbing in him a rib-crushing hug.

“I missed you,” he said, lips to Hiro’s ear. “You have no idea how happy I am. I know I look like a mess and we’ve all been crying non-stop, but I’m so happy. Don’t get the slightest idea I’m mad at you. I love you and I missed you so much.”

Hiro’s face crumpled.

“Okay.” It was all he could say. “Okay. I love you, too, Tadashi.”

Baymax rubbed and patted both their backs while they just stood there for a while, wrapped up in each other.

He’d try not to ask anything in the future. Not for a while anyway. Not if it hurt his brother to tell, no matter how much it hurt Hiro to not know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiro may not ask anything for a little while, but there's plenty he's going to wonder about - and of course he'll ask more questions in the future.
> 
> Something that I want to note is that even telling the story as is - pretty bare boned, honestly, and leaving some things out - is triggering for Tadashi. He's spent seven months alone with a madman who was stopped in a pretty traumatic way, has only been home for a few days, told his story (partially and in full) three times before this, and everything is still overwhelming. Hiro's outburst at the end may have been what pushed him over the edge to start crying and proclaim that he doesn't want to be "like this" anymore, but he was already lingering on that edge.
> 
> Hiro makes a lot of assumptions about what others are thinking in this fic, partially because he's projecting and partially because that's what he interprets, but there are a lot of things running through Tadashi's head that he has no idea about. By the time Tadashi gasped out that he wanted to put everything behind him, a dozen other things - memories and insecurities - had already run through his head, influencing that proclamation. Hiro may have pushed him over the edge, but he's not quite the cause he thinks he is.
> 
> We're officially done with the crying for a while. Next chapter's going to deal with the fall out of Tadashi's return becoming public.


End file.
